Iran blasts Trump for ‘racist mentality’ and hostility to Muslims over travel ban

Tehran has denounced the US travel ban on Iranians and citizens of 11 other mostly Middle Eastern and African countries, saying Washington’s decision was a sign of a “racist mentality”. Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday reviving sweeping restrictions that echo the US president’s first-term travel ban, justified on national security grounds after a firebomb attack at a pro-Israel rally in Colorado. Apart from Iran, the US ban targets nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The foreign ministry official said the ban was discriminatory and would “entail international responsibility for the US government”, without elaborating. According to figures from Tehran’s foreign ministry, in 2020 there were about 1.5 million Iranians in the US.