Iran bans US citizens in retaliates to Trump order

Tehran: 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.

"In order to protect the dignity of all the Iranian people inside and outside the country, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will scrutinize the short-term and long-term outcomes of the decision by the US government on Iranian nationals and will take appropriate consular, legal and political measures," the ministry said.

Trump on Friday signed a sweeping executive order to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Iran's foreign ministry called the decision "illegal, illogical and contrary to international rules".

It said its own ban on US nationals would continue until the American measure was lifted.

The statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Trump's decision to ban visas was an "open affront" against the Iranian nation and the Muslim world.

The statement said the Iranian government respects the American people and distinguishes between them and the hostile policies of the US government.

It, however, emphasized that Iran would respond in kind in order to support its nationals' rights until the offensive US restrictions are lifted.

The ministry said said it had ordered Iranian diplomatic missions to help Iranians who had been "prevented from returning to their homes and places of work and study" in the United States.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif issued a series of tweets in response to President Trump's order, saying the move would be "a great gift to extremists and their supporters."

He explained that statement further, tweeting: "Collective discrimination aids terrorist recruitment by deepening fault-lines exploited by extremist demagogues to swell their ranks."

Canada opens arms after Trump ban

World leaders reacted harshly Saturday to President Trump's executive order suspending immigration and visas for citizens from certain countries with majority Muslim populations. Iran, one of the targeted nations, suggested it would limit issuing visas to American tourists.

Other world leaders, including officials from Canada and Scotland, also tweeted responses to the new U.S. policy.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau embraced refugees, also temporarily prohibited from entering the U.S., making a pointed comment about not discriminating on religious grounds: "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada"

Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, retweeted Trudeau, seconding his invitation: "#WelcometoScotland too."

People in the affected countries reacted with dismay to the U.S. move, the Associated Press reported.

"I am shocked beyond words. This will mean that my new husband will never be able to join me in the U.S.," said Fatima Ashkir, a Somali-American woman from Florida who came to Mogadishu to marry her Somali boyfriend.

In Jordan, a Syrian refugee who submitted to an initial security screening in the hopes of moving to the U.S., sees his hopes dashed with President Trump's order.

"When we heard of the order, it was like a bolt of lightning, and all our hopes and dreams vanished," Ammar Sawan said Saturday.

Other Syrian refugees in Jordan warned that U.S. policy could inflame anti-American sentiment in the region.

"This decision made the U.S. lose its reputation in the world as the biggest economy, the biggest democracy," said refugee Nasser Sheik, 44, who was paralyzed by a stroke two years ago and lives with his family in Amman."We are not going out to harm people of other countries," added his wife Madaya, 37.