A group of professors has urged Iranian President Hassan Rohani to respond to a recent order by U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily barring travel by Iranians to the United States by easing travel restrictions for U.S. citizens visiting their country.
Seventy-two professors from the prestigious Sharif University of Technology on February 4 issued an open letter to Rohani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif calling on them to offer to issue visas upon arrival in Tehran for U.S. citizens for the next 90 days.
They said the best response to the U.S. policy would be to let Americans see Iranian "hospitality" for themselves.
Trump on January 27 signed an order temporarily banning all refugees and citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the United States.
A U.S. judge, however, issued a restraining order against the decision on February 3 and the U.S. government suspended it the next day.
The professors' proposal comes at a time of high tensions between the United States and Iran after Washington imposed news sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities following Tehran’s test of a medium-range ballistic missile.
Iran has promised to impose similar sanctions against U.S. individuals and entities.