Iran to ban Americans from entering country after Trump's immigration orders

Iran will ban Americans from entering the country in response to President Donald Trump's "insulting" order restricting arrivals from Iran and six other Muslim states, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran... has decided to respond in kind after the insulting decision of the United States concerning Iranian nationals" until the measure is lifted, the ministry said in a statement carried by state television.

President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered “extreme vetting” of people entering the US from certain Muslim-majority countries and banned the entry of Syrian refugees until further notice, as part of new measures to “keep radical Islamic terrorists” out of America.

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“I am establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. We don’t want them here,” Trump said after signing an executive order at the Pentagon.

The executive order “Protection of The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States” notes that the steps taken by the US in the aftermath of 9/11 has not been able to deter terrorists from entering the country.

“Numerous foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, including foreign nationals who entered the US after receiving visitor, student, or employment visas, or who entered through the US refugee resettlement program,” it said.

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The countries impacted are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia, according to a White House official.

The controversial move, signed a week after he was sworn-in as the President, fulfils the vow Trump made on the campaign trail to limit Muslim immigration to the US.

(With PTI Inputs)