[1][3] She attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then Yale University, where she received a bachelor's in Spanish and in economics and math.
[citation needed] She was awarded the Clarendon Fund scholarship to pursue graduate studies at University of Oxford, where she received an MPhil in economics.
[4] In 2021, Iyer spent a summer working with Donna Yates at Maastricht University, researching the application of statutes of limitations in cultural property cases as a Chayes International Public Service Fellow.
[14] Amidst the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, two editors of the Harvard Law Review solicited an article by Harvard PhD candidate and human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah, which "argue[d] that the atrocities in Gaza amount to genocide" and that "the distinctive nature of the domination Palestinians have faced should demand a new category of crime: 'Nakba'.
"[15][16] After the article was edited, fact-checked, and initially approved, Iyer intervened to stop its publication, citing safety concerns.