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 The measure, which President Barack Obama signed into law on
Friday, also applies to Iraq, Syria and Sudan, and was introduced as
a security measure after the Islamic State attacks in Paris and a
similar attack in San Bernardino, California.
Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim theocracy staunchly opposed to Sunni
radicalism espoused by groups like Islamic State, says its inclusion
on the list is intended to undermine a deal on its nuclear programme
that Tehran reached with world powers, including the United States,
in July, known as the JCPOA.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said in a
televised news conference that the U.S. measure had been passed
"under pressure from the Zionist lobby and currents opposed to the
JCPOA".
Citizens of 38 countries, most of them in Europe, are eligible for
waivers under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. Under the new
restrictions, citizens who have visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan
in the last five years, and those who hold dual nationality with one
of those countries, are excluded.
 The measure was introduced after 130 people were killed in the
Islamic State attacks in Paris on Nov. 13. Several of the attackers
had European passports, and some had traveled to Islamic State's
territory in Syria.
IRAN SAYS DECISION "ABSURD"
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday said it was
"absurd" that Tehran should be included on the list.
"No Iranian nor anybody who visited Iran had anything to do with the
tragedies that have taken place in Paris or in San Bernardino or
anywhere else," he said in an interview with Middle East-focused
website Al Monitor.
Asked whether Iran's inclusion in the visa law was a backdoor
attempt to undermine the nuclear deal, State Department spokesman
John Kirby told reporters in Washington that the restrictions
applied because Tehran was on the department's list of state
sponsors of terrorism.
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There is no intention to use the visa program "to halt the
legitimate business interests of Iran post-implementation" of the
nuclear deal, Kirby told reporters at a news briefing.
Iran has been promised a lifting of international sanctions hobbling
its economy once it has restrictions on its nuclear programme in
place as stipulated by its deal with the powers.
Iranian officials have said the visa measure will adversely affect
bilateral relations. Some suggest the measure is effectively a new
sanction against the Islamic Republic that could jeopardise the
nuclear deal.
"Existing sanctions not yet lifted, additional sanctions imposed,"
ran the front-page headline of the hardline daily Kayhan on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wrote to Zarif on Saturday to
assure him that Washington remained committed to the JCPOA, noting
that the White House can waive the new requirements in individual
cases.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's National Security Council,
warned that the measures would breed mistrust between the two
countries. "It could have irreversible effects on the implementation
of mutual commitments under the JCPOA," Shamkhani was quoted as
saying by the state news agency IRNA.
(Reporting by Sam Wilkin in Dubai and Washington Newsroom; Editing
by Sami Aboudi and Mark Heinrich)
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