The United States' entry ban targeting 12 countries, including Iran, will take effect on 9th (local time), according to the Associated Press.
Earlier, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 4th to prevent citizens of 12 countries, including Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan from entering the United States.
The entry ban being enacted from this day contains the provision that no new visas will be issued to citizens of these countries.
At the same time, the entry of citizens from seven countries, including Venezuela, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Turkmenistan, will be partially restricted.
The U.S. Department of State added that entry is permitted for citizens of the banned countries if they already have a valid U.S. visa.
President Trump said this measure was taken considering the risks of terrorism and public safety threats. He claimed that citizens of the 12 countries are likely to overstay their visas illegally after expiration, based on the annual report from the Department of Homeland Security.
President Trump emphasized that the incident in which an illegal immigrant of Egyptian origin committed a Molotov cocktail attack targeting Jews in Colorado demonstrated how threatening the entry of unvetted foreigners is to the United States.
During his first term in 2017, President Trump ordered an entry ban for seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Iraq, and Syria, but the courts obstructed him.
Experts analyzed that to prevent a recurrence of such situations, the Trump administration selectively categorized countries with high rates of illegal overstays after visa expiration, rather than blanket imposing entry bans on Muslim countries.
The Trump administration stated that this entry restriction measure is an unavoidable choice for national security and public safety.
In contrast, human rights organizations criticized it as a discriminatory measure against specific countries.
Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, reacted to the U.S. entry ban by calling it 'stigma against Venezuelans.'