Iran bars entry to US citizens

Iran said it was blocking entry to US citizens in response to a move by US President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order temporarily barring most arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Iran said Trump's wide-ranging order, which was signed on Friday and, among other things, prevents most travellers from Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Yemen from entering the US, was insulting and that it would respond in kind while the restrictions are in place, Efe news reported on Saturday.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the measure would backfire and promote more violence and extremism.

"Despite its false claims of combating terrorism and ensuring the safety of the American people, (the executive order) will go down in history as a big gift to extremists and their supporters," it said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier had indirectly criticised another Trump executive order that assigns federal funds for the construction of a wall on the border separating the US and Mexico.

The current era is one of "reconciliation and coexistence and not of putting up walls between countries," he said.

A further deterioration in Iranian-US relations was expected with the coming to power of Trump, who has repeatedly criticised the nuclear deal signed in July 2015 between Iran and six major world powers.

--IANS

pgh/