TEHRAN: Tehran denounced on Saturday (Jun 7) the US travel ban on Iranians and residents of 11 different largely Center Jap and African international locations, saying Washington’s choice was an indication of a “racist mentality”.
US President Donald Trump signed on Wednesday an govt order reviving sweeping restrictions that echo his first-term journey ban, justified on nationwide safety grounds following a firebomb attack at a pro-Israel rally in Colorado.
Alireza Hashemi-Raja, the international ministry’s director basic for the affairs of Iranians overseas, referred to as the measure, which takes impact on Jun 9, “a transparent signal of the dominance of a supremacist and racist mentality amongst American policymakers”.
The choice “signifies the deep hostility of American decision-makers in the direction of the Iranian and Muslim folks”, he added in an announcement launched by the ministry.
Aside from Iran, the US ban targets nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. A partial ban was additionally imposed on travellers from seven different international locations, together with Laos.
Hashemi-Raja stated the coverage “violates elementary ideas of worldwide legislation” and deprives “tons of of hundreds of thousands of individuals of the best to journey primarily based solely on their nationality or faith”.
The international ministry official stated that the ban was discriminatory and would “entail worldwide accountability for the US authorities”, with out elaborating.
Iran and the US severed diplomatic ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and relations have remained deeply strained since.
The US is house to the biggest Iranian neighborhood exterior Iran.
In response to figures from Tehran’s international ministry, in 2020 there have been some 1.5 million Iranians within the US.
Trump’s govt order got here days after Sunday’s assault on the Colorado rally, during which authorities stated greater than a dozen folks had been harm. The suspect is an Egyptian man who had overstayed a vacationer visa.
