Iran on Saturday lambasted US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on countries, including Iran, and said that it showed “deep hostility” towards Iranians and Muslims.
Iran’s foreign ministry posted a statement on X quoting a senior official and said, “The decision to ban the entry of Iranian nationals – merely due to their religion and nationality – not only indicates the deep hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian people and Muslims but also violates… international law.”
Separately, Iran on Saturday slammed the new sanctions imposed by the United States targeting over 30 individuals and entities that Washington said are part of a “shadow banking” network linked to Tehran. It said that the network has laundered billions of dollars through the global financial system.
“The new U.S. sanctions …, are illegal and violate international law, and are further evidence of the deep and continuing hostility of the U.S. ruling regime towards the Iranian people,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, Reuters reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump issued a full-entry travel ban on nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Meanwhile, partial restrictions will also be enforced on Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, limiting immigrant and non-immigrant visas due to high overstay rates or insufficient collaboration between law enforcement.
The travel ban was justified by the White House, which cited Taliban control in Afghanistan, Iran and Cuba’s state-sponsored terrorism, and Haiti’s influx of illegal migrants during the Biden regime.
Additionally, countries like Chad (49.54% B1/B2 visa overstay rate) and Eritrea (55.43% F/M/J overstay rate) were flagged for disregarding US immigration laws.
“We will restore the travel ban, some people call it the Trump travel ban, and keep the radical Islamic terrorists out of our country that was upheld by the Supreme Court,” Trump had said.
The travel ban was also upheld by the Supreme Court which ruled that ‘it is squarely within the scope of Presidential authority’ and noted that it is ‘expressly premised on legitimate purposes’.
