Mohammad Javad Zarif
Mohammad Javad ZarifReuters

Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to revive part of President Donald Trump's travel ban imposed on citizens from six majority Muslim countries.

"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," Zarif told a joint news conference in Berlin with his German counterpart, according to Reuters.

Zarif called the U.S. decision the "greatest gift" for terrorist groups seeking new recruits.

"A bigoted ban on Muslims will not keep U.S. safer. Instead of policies empowering extremists, US should join the real fight against them," he later tweeted.

Zarif said the travel ban punished people who had never been convicted of a terrorist act, while people from other countries involved in past attacks would not be affected.

"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," he said, according to Reuters, an apparent reference to recent U.S. approval of $110 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi citizens are not affected by the travel ban.

The Supreme Court on Monday had agreed to stay parts of earlier rulings that had blocked the ban from being enforced. The partial stay means that foreigners with no U.S. ties could be prohibited from entering the country, while those with ties such as through business or personal relationship would remain unaffected.

The travel ban in question is an updated order issued by Trump after his initial order was dismissed by the court. The order is temporary, until proper vetting procedures – a central campaign promise of Trump’s – can be implemented.

Iran's Foreign Ministry criticized the original travel ban as well, warning it would "take appropriate consular, legal and political measures" against it and denouncing it as a "flagrant insult" to the entire Islamic world.