JCPOA Breached by Trump Visa Ban

An executive order by US President Donald Trump to suspend visas for Iranians, as well as citizens of six other Muslim nations, constitutes a blatant breach of the nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a lawmaker said. 

"The suspension of visas for Iranian nationals is definitely a violation of JCPOA," Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Spokesman Hossein Naqavi Hosseini told ICANA on Saturday.

"Since the action plan [took effect], all the members of P5+1, the UN Security Council and the European Union have been banned from imposing new restrictions on Iran and its citizens," he said.

P5+1 stands for a coalition of six powers, namely the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany, that negotiated the July 2015 agreement with the Islamic Republic to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of international sanctions.

Trump on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.

He banned the entry of travelers from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen for at least 90 days, saying his administration needed time to develop more stringent screening processes for refugees, immigrants and visitors.

"We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people," Reuters quoted him as saying.

  Confused Situation 

The bans, though temporary, took effect immediately, causing havoc and confusion for would-be travelers with passports from the targeted countries.

Hosseini said Trump's directive is effectively a new sanction, which contradicts not only the terms of the nuclear deal but those of all international conventions as well as the rules against religious discrimination.

Some US legal experts have questioned the order's constitutionality and one group has said it would initiate a court challenge on Monday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the order targets Muslims because of their faith, contravening the US constitutional right to freedom of religion.

"President Trump has cloaked what is a discriminatory ban against nationals of Muslim countries under the banner of national security," said Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Trump has long pledged to take this kind of action, making it a prominent feature of his campaign for the Nov. 8 election.