New York [U.S.A.], June 29 (ANI): As Washington prepares to begin implementation of Trump's travel ban on Thursday, Iran has branded a recent U.S. supreme court order to reinstate elements of the divisive policy racist and unfair.
The Supreme Court, on Monday, partially lifted two lower court injunctions blocking the ban, allowing parts of it to come into effect over the summer before a full hearing in autumn.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, according to Iranian state TV, said, "The ruling was 'an indication of the decision of the leaders of that country to discriminate against Muslims. It's regrettable that the American government, because of their economic and commercial short-sightedness, have closed their eyes to the main perpetrators of terrorism in America."
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had earlier told reporters in Germany that the ban, which Trump argues is necessary on national security grounds, would "not help fight terrorism", The Guardian reported.
Zarif said, "We always believed that the Muslim ban that President Trump imposed soon after assuming office had no basis in facts."
The comments came as officials in the U.S. scrambled to ready themselves for the order's partial implementation, 72 hours after the supreme court ruling.
Trump's executive order, a streamlined version of a chaotically implemented first ban from January, blocks Visa applications from the six targetted Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, for 90 days and suspends resettlement of refugees to the U.S. for 120 days. The order also allows for individuals to apply for waivers if an application is denied. (ANI)
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