Iran condemns Trump’s travel ban
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reinstating broad restrictions similar to his initial travel ban during his first term.
Tehran has strongly criticized the United States' travel ban targeting Iranians and citizens from 11 other predominantly Middle Eastern and African nations, describing the move as evidence of a racist mindset.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reinstating broad restrictions similar to his initial travel ban during his first term.
The administration defended the policy on national security grounds, citing a recent firebomb attack at a pro-Israel demonstration in Colorado.
Alireza Hashemi-Raja, director general of the Iranian foreign ministry’s department for affairs concerning Iranians abroad, described the upcoming travel ban set to take effect on June 9 as a blatant example of a supremacist and racist attitude among US policymakers.
He stated in a ministry release on Saturday that the decision reflects profound hostility from American officials towards Iranians and Muslims.
In addition to Iran, the US ban targets citizens from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
There is also a partial restriction on travelers from seven other nations.
Hashemi-Raja condemned the policy as a violation of basic international law principles, arguing it unjustly strips hundreds of millions of people of their right to travel based purely on nationality or religion.
He further described the ban as discriminatory and warned it could hold the US government internationally accountable, though he did not provide specific details.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran and the US have cut diplomatic relations, with tensions remaining high ever since.
The United States hosts the largest Iranian diaspora outside of Iran, with Tehran’s foreign ministry reporting approximately 1.5 million Iranians living in the US as of 2020.
President Trump signed the executive order just days after an attack at a pro-Israel rally in Colorado on Sunday, where more than a dozen people were injured.
The suspect, an Egyptian national, had overstayed his tourist visa, authorities said.
