Express.uk :
The figure, revealed by a US government lawyer in Virginia, sparked outrage on social media – but the State Department earlier this week confirmed it had provisionally revoked the majority of visas held by citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
State Department officials, however, disputed the claim, and said fewer than 60,000 visas were provisionally revoked as a result of the ban. A spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs told the Huffington Post: “To put that number in context, we issued over 11 million immigrant and non-immigrant visas in fiscal year 2015.” Trump’s executive order is being enforced through the revocation of US visas, which places a ban on migrants from the seven countries, and means immigrants already in the US cannot visit one of these countries and return. The revelations come as the Republican’s administration imposed sanctions on 13 people and a dozen companies in response to a recent ballistic missile test carried out by Iran.
The President’s order has provoked widespread protest and condemnation. Trump tweeted: “Iran is playing with fire – they don’t appreciate how “kind” President Obama was to them. Not me!
“Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile missile. Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the US made with them!” The US treasury also accused Iran of “malign activity” in a statement made earlier.
