WASHINGTON – The United States on Thursday barred Iranians from visitingthe country on investment and trade visas due to the ongoing tensions withIran in the Middle East.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services attributed the change to thetermination in October 2018 of a treaty of amity with Iran, which is thetarget of US sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs.
The E-1 and E-2 non-immigrant visas allow citizens of other countries to beadmitted into the US to engage in international trade or to invest a largesum of capital.
Iranians are no longer eligible for such visas, the service said. Thosealready in the country with these visas must leave once their authorisedstay expires, it said. It was not clear how many Iranians will be affected.
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The little-known agreement was signed long before Iran’s 1979 IslamicRevolution that turned the two countries into archenemies.
President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran andworld powers in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The US killingthis month of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and an exchange of militarystrikes has raised tensions to a new level. -APP/AFP
