The Arab League has expressed “deep concern” over an “unjustified” decision by US President Donald Trump to restrict entry into the United States from several Muslim-majority countries. In a statement released on Sunday, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said new regulations “are unjustified restrictions on the entry of citizens of several Arab nations to the US, in addition to the consequences of suspending the acceptance of Syrian refugees.”

Aboul Gheit, who heads the 22-member regional organization of Arab countries, hoped that the Trump administration would “review its position because of the negative consequences this could lead to in terms of preserving family unity and the continuation of dialogue between Arab societies and American society.” Such dialogue includes “the fields of education and scientific research,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Aboul Gheit’s spokesman Mahmoud Afifi has also voiced concern about “indications of a direction towards using an official religious standard to identify whether or not to accept refugees.” In a move that sparked widespread censure, the new US president signed a sweeping executive order on Friday to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Sources within the Trump administration say it is unclear how many more countries will be added to the list as it looks to expand the ban beyond the initial seven countries.  Washington will be “very aggressive” as it weighs how many more countries to add to the list, the sources said.

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US President Donald Trump has signed a directive to begin the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, taking the first step to deliver on one of his most divisive campaign pledges. “We’ve been talking about this right from the beginning,” the Republican president said as he signed the order during a ceremony for homeland security secretary on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The wall will be stretched across the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico border. Earlier, Trump said during an interview with ABC News that the construction was slated to begin within months, while planning would start immediately.

Trump also asserted that Mexico would reimburse “100 percent” of the wall’s costs. The American president took another step aimed at curbing immigration by signing a separate executive action on public safety for the interior of the US, authorizing a crackdown on US cities that shield illegal immigrants. The directive aims to strip federal funding from “sanctuary” states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said earlier in the day that the orders were the new administration’s “first step to really securing our porous border.” “This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States,” he added.

During his campaign run, Trump repeatedly pledged to build a wall along the southern border to prevent more immigrants from entering the US illegally. The Manhattan billionaire even estimated that erecting the wall would cost $8 billion, pledging to force Mexico to cover it. Earlier this month, however, Trump joined other Republicans, saying US taxpayers may foot the initial bill for the proposed wall, insisting that Mexico would repay the US the money in the end. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto made it clear during a meeting with Trump in September last year that his country would not pay for the project. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray repeated Nieto’s remarks on January 11, saying there was “no way” that his country would fund the wall.

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The European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have both reaffirmed their support for the Iran nuclear deal on the first anniversary of the accord’s implementation. The deal, officially titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached between Iran on the one side and the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany on the other in July 2015. It began being implemented on January 16, 2016 and terminated nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in return for certain limits on the Iranian nuclear program.

During the course of the negotiations that resulted in the deal, the EU acted as coordinator for the negotiating parties and, together with the UN, hosted the talks. In a statement on Monday, the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, once again reaffirmed the bloc’s support for the deal in the face of potential threats from the future US administration to undermine it. “The full and effective implementation throughout the entire lifetime of the JCPOA remains essential,” said Mogherini in a statement. “The EU has clearly affirmed its resolute commitment to this objective.”

She said the bloc “will continue to work hand in hand with all those willing to contribute to its full implementation and in achieving the objectives which brought us together.” There has been concern that the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, a former businessman and a self-admitted non-politician, may breach the deal or stop implementing US commitments under it altogether. Trump has previously threatened to “tear up” the deal. Throughout her Monday statement, Mogherini, the top EU diplomat, pointed to the merits and strengths of the deal in what sometimes seemed to be directed at an audience of one.

She said the agreement “is working for all” and now belonged to the entire international community. “The JCPOA is a multilateral endeavour, achieved through diplomatic means and endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution. It was born out of the efforts of the E3/EU+3 and Iran, but it now belongs to the entire international community. The JCPOA provides benefits for all and creates opportunities for improved regional cooperation that should be seized by all,” she said.

She was referring to Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), which unanimously endorsed the JCPOA on July 20, 2015. She also highlighted that, “Iran has delivered on its nuclear-related commitments as confirmed by the four reports issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency.” The Agency has taken up the task of monitoring the technical implementation of the Iran deal. Also on Monday, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, reassured the world body’s support for the accord in his office’s daily press briefing.

He praised the first anniversary of the JCPOA’s implementation as “a significant milestone in the historic agreement.” “The United Nations shall continue to support the implementation of the JCPOA, in accordance with resolution 2231 (2015) and other relevant decisions of the Security Council,” he said.

All the other parties to the JCPOA, including the outgoing US administration, Russia, and China, have also already stressed the need to sustain the deal amid the Trump threats. Meanwhile, Trump, in a shift from his usual rhetoric of lambasting the Iran deal, has refused to say what policy he would want to take regarding it, also admitting that he is “not a politician.”

“Well, I don’t want to say what I’m gonna do with the Iran deal. I just don’t want to play the cards. I mean, look, I’m not a politician, I don’t go out and say, ‘I’m gonna do this’ — I’m gonna do, I gotta do what I gotta do,” he told the British daily The Times on Sunday.

Trump has flip-flopped on policy issues before, too.

Russia sees no reason for non-performance

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who was his country’s lead negotiator in the talks over the Iran deal, also stressed that the JCPOA was an important and constructive agreement and that Russia would remain committed to it.

Speaking at a UN roundtable on the one-year anniversary of the deal’s implementation, Ryabkov said Russia saw no grounds for any failure to fully implement the deal and downplayed the rhetoric by Trump, TASS reported.

He said very little was known about the “approaches of the next US administration to this issue and the foreign policy agenda in general.”

He said that, while Moscow was studying the public statements by Trump’s advisers and cabinet nominees made during the US Senate hearings, he saw “no signs… that a completely new situation will occur.”

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Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has passed away at the age of 82 due to heart condition. Ayatollah Rafsanjani was admitted to a hospital in northern Tehran on Sunday after having an acute heart attack.

Born on August 25, 1934, the influential Iranian politician and writer was the fourth president of the Islamic Republic, serving from 1989 to 1997.

Rafsanjani was the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 to 2011. The influential cleric was elected chairman of the Iranian parliament in 1980 and served until 1989. He assumed office as the Chairman of the Expediency Council in 1989.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attended the hospital where Ayatollah Rafsanjani was hospitalized, undergoing treatment. Head of Tehran’s Shohada Hospital has declared heart arrest as the cause of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s passing away.  Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani was among the main aides to late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini.

He played an influential role both during anti-Shah struggles before the victory of the Islamic Revolution and afterwards through various stages of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rafsanjani was also a key figure during the eight years of Iraq’s imposed war on Iran (1980-88), serving as substitute to commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

According to IRNA news agency, the funeral for Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani will be held in Tehran on Tuesday.  In a statement, the Iranian administration announced a three-day mourning period across the country and declared Tuesday as a national holiday.

Condolence messages pour in from Iran state officials, bodies

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani issued a condolence message on his Twitter account soon after Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s demise in which he said, “The soul of the great man of the revolution and politics has soared to the sky.” Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi also released a message, expressing his grief over passing away of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.

In his message, Shahroudi described Rafsanjani as a true follower of late Imam Khomeini, who spared nothing on the path of the Islamic Revolution and was among confidantes of Imam Khomeini who shouldered heavy responsibilities following the Islamic Revolution. Many Iranian officials and state organs have offered their condolences over the demise of Ayatollah Rafsanjani.

Chairman of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said the influential figure diligently shouldered important responsibilities after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ayatollah Jannati also condoled with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the demise of Ayatollah Rafsanjani.

Meanwhile, the Guardian Council expressed grief over Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s demise and said he provided great services to the Islamic Republic in different areas. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, for his part, expressed his condolences to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Iranian nation, particularly Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s family.

He said the late cleric always made great efforts in carrying out his sensitive and crucial responsibilities and played a prominent and influential role in managing the country’s economic and social affairs as well as the complicated and difficult foreign policy of the Islamic Republic.

Foreign officials, dignitaries express condolences over Rafsanjani’s demise

Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifah, the foreign minister of Bahrain, posted a message on his Twitter account expressing his condolences on passing away of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. Meanwhile, the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Palestine’s Islamic Jihad Organization expressed their sorrow over the passing away of Iran’s former president. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also issued a message of condolence on the occasion of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s demise.

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A website, which correctly predicted 12 celebrity deaths in 2016, says Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter as well as American billionaire David Rockefeller are among those who are expected to die this year.

The owners of DeathList.net provided a list of 50 celebrities based on the likelihood of their death during 2017, The Daily Express reported on Saturday. Last year, the website correctly predicted the death of American Boxing champion Muhammad Ali and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. This year, the expert committee believes that the Queen, 90, and her husband Prince Philip, 95, will likely die.

The queen was suffering from “heavy colds” late last month, according to Buckingham Palace. The monarch fell ill before Christmas and missed Christmas and New Year church services. Her husband, who has heart disease and other health problems, was also suffering cold during Christmas. He is included high on the website’s list.

The list also included two former US Presidents Bush and Carter along with 93-year old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. He has ruled the African country for more than 36 years. Former Pope Benedict XVI is also on the list.

Last year, twelve of the people on the website’s shortlist passed away, including former US First Lady Nancy Reagan. Some other death candidates on the list, including Stephen Hawking and Prince Philip, however, missed the prediction.

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