Recently, Iran has come out with a strong stance against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to restore parts of the travel ban. Iran called the travel ban “racist” and “unfair” because of the way the ban applies to six countries that are primarily Muslim-majority. According to ABC News, Bahram Ghasemi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted by state TV saying that it is “regrettable” that Washington “closes its eyes to the main perpetrators of terrorist acts in the U.S.”
This Monday, the Supreme Court decided to allow President Donald Trump to go ahead with a limited version of his travel ban. Travelers from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia will be subjected to Trump’s legislation.
Many critics are saying that the travel ban is meant to help Trump meet his campaign promises, according to ABC News. One of his main campaign promises was his pledge to keep Muslims out of the United States. The administration has stated that the travel restrictions are intended to keep terrorist out of the country while strengthening the vetting process.
While the Supreme Court is allowing the travel ban to partially take effect, many questions were still left unanswered. ABC News explained that the “the administration could block entry of nationals from six Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days with exceptions for foreign nationals who have a ‘credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States’.”
Unfortunately, the term “bona fide relationship” has not been defined. A State Department spokesperson, Heather Nauert said that lawyers for the Justice Department are in the process of figuring out what qualifies as a bona fide relationship, according to ABC News.
Nauert stated, “We don’t have a definition here at the State Department for that yet. None of the agencies have that definition just yet.” Once the definition is understood, the State Department plans to share the information with consular officers who review visa applications.