Speaking from Berlin on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision to reinstate most of President Donald Trump’s immigration order, previously blocked by lower-court judges. Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, is one of the nations affected by the order.
“We always believed that the Muslim ban that President Trump imposed soon after assuming office had no basis in facts and would not help fight terrorism,” said Zarif, as reported by Reuters.
He went on to argue that the travel order was the “greatest gift” that could be given to radical groups because they would use it in their recruiting efforts.
Zarif threw in a slam at Saudi Arabia: “For some terrorism and support for terrorism is measured by the amount of arms they buy from the U.S, and not by actually being involved in acts of terrorism.”
“It is regrettable that the US government is ignoring the major perpetrators of the terrorist acts in the US and gives a wrong address in broad daylight in pursuit of its shortsighted economic and business goals,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday, reiterating Zarif’s argument that terrorism cops should be busting down Saudi Arabia’s door instead of Iran’s.
Qassemi also played the Islamophobia card, accusing American politicians of treating Muslims with “pessimism, insult, and humiliation.”
Iran threatened unspecified “reciprocal action” in response to the ban on Wednesday. One Iranian lawmaker claimed the travel order is an “obvious breach” of the nuclear deal his country reached with the Obama administration.