The order also halts entry by Syrian refugees until the president determines that changes to the refugee program ensure that admitting them won't compromise national security.

Abbas al-Bayati, an Iraqi Shiite member of parliament, said the curbs will send the wrong message to Iraqis at a time when Washington is counting on Iraqi forces to battle Islamic State militants in tough close-quarters combat in the northern city of Mosul.

"The United States and Iraq always stressed that they are allies,'' al-Bayati said, noting American commitments to support democracy in Iraq. He urged the Trump administration to reconsider its decision "for the good of the two countries.''

Fellow Iraqi lawmaker Majid Chenkali, a Kurdish Sunni, was less diplomatic, saying Iraq should respond with similar visa policies for Americans.

"It should be an eye for an eye,'' he said.

Mohammed ElBaradei, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Egypt's former vice president who now lives in self-imposed exile, posted on Twitter: "Will there be an Arab action to make us feel that we have some dignity?''

It was not immediately clear how Trump's plans would affect Syrians scattered all over the globe. 

Close to 5 million Syrians have fled the country's brutal war since 2011, when an uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule erupted in the country's south. Most struggle to survive in tough conditions in neighboring countries, and many have relatives who have settled in the US.

Trump said during his campaign that he would suspend arrivals from Syria, portraying them as a potential security threat.

George, a 58-year-old businessman in Damascus, whose wife and two daughters fled the war and have been living in the US for five years, said Americans already treat Syrians very badly, and that security measures greeting Syrians at US airports are terrible.

The man, who declined to give his last name for security concerns, said that although he has US residency, he still suffers every time he travels to America. "If the treatment of Syrians gets worse, we will pack our bags and return home.''

Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-nominated "The Salesman,'' said she would boycott the Academy Awards to protest Trump's immigration policies.

"Trump's visa ban for Iranians is racist,'' she posted on Twitter.

Tehran-based diplomatic analyst Hassan Hanizadeh said Trump's move will do nothing to improve strained relations between Washington and Tehran, and will only make things more difficult for ordinary Iranians who travel to the US to visit family. There are believed to be more than one million Iranians and Iranian-Americans living in the US.

"As expected, Trump has launched aggressive policies against Islamic countries, including Iran,'' Hanizadeh said.

On the streets of Tehran, Iranians echoed that sentiment.

"Trump has targeted ordinary Iranians since he cannot do anything against the Iranian government,'' said car mechanic Borzou Ahmadi, 35.

Simin Ghaderi, a 43-year-old teacher, said the plan shows a lack of knowledge among American decision-makers.

"Just look at passports of those who were involved in terrorist activities in the US and the west. How many of them were Iranian citizens?'' he said.

The 9/11 attacks, for example, were mostly carried out by citizens of Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and Iran's regional rival. American citizens were responsible for other recent deadly attacks.

Several prominent mass-casualty terrorist attacks on American soil, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, have been carried out by Sunni militant groups and have not involved Iranian citizens.

The United States has listed Iran a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984 -- four years after Washington severed diplomatic relations in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and storming of the US Embassy. The Islamic Republic backs a number of Middle Eastern militant groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas.

But Iran also finds common ground with the US in its opposition to the Islamic State militant group, which views the Shiite sect of Islam that most Iranians follow as heretical.

Mohammad Saghafi, an undergraduate electric engineering student in Tehran Azad University, said he is thinking twice about trying to pursue further education in the US because of the ban.

"I may continue my education in Canada or Germany,'' he said. "Their leaders do not react like teenagers, at least.''

For some in the Middle East, the proposed ban won't change much _ either because they had no plans to visit the US or couldn't get in when they tried.

"I'd rather go somewhere else like Thailand as a tourist than the US,'' said Ahmadi, the Iranian mechanic.

Mounir al-Khayat, 31-year-old banker from Syria who was born and raised in Kuwait, said it has always been tough for Syrians to get American visas, even before Trump's election. He has been refused a tourist visa, as have others he knows.

"I was told that because I am Syrian, the authorities there are not sure if I will return,'' he said.

"It has always been there, this travel ban,'' he continued. "Trump just made it official.''

Advocacy groups for refugees condemned the order in emotional terms, saying the policy exacerbated the suffering of vulnerable people while abandoning American values.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, who is Christian, said he was especially upset about the exemption for persecuted religious minorities in the order. The preferential treatment, clearly meant for Christians, would generate resentment of communities already at serious risk, he said. 

"It's wrongheaded and dangerous in terms of the Middle East,'' Zogby said.