In Love and in Limbo: Couple Stuck Between US and Iranian Immigration Orders

— -- Mohammad Mesbahi, 27, an Iranian-American from Fairfax, Virginia, crinkles his nose and laughs when asked why he loves his wife.

"There’s a lot of things!" he chuckles. "Every single little thing."

Mesbahi and Iranian citizen Homa Esfandiari were married in Tehran in December 2014. Since then, Mesbahi says they have spent years collecting, filling out and submitting paperwork so she could come join him in the U.S.

Mesbahi says Esfandiari was in the final stages of approval and waiting for a date to have an interview at the U.S. embassy in Armenia, the closest one to Iran, when they heard the news about President Trump's controversial immigration order.

"You can imagine how devastated we were, having waited so long," he said.

The executive order, signed by President Donald Trump last week, puts a freeze on most citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries entering the U.S. for 90 days.

Iran is one of the nations on the list, potentially putting Esfandiari's case in limbo.

Making matters worse for the couple, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement over the weekend that Iran would "implement the principle of reciprocity" until the travel suspension is over, vowing to ban Americans from entering their country.

It’s unclear what the Iranian statement means for Mesbahi, who is a dual citizen of Iran and the U.S.

"We don’t want to be caught up in this feud between these two governments," Mesbahi said. "We just want to live our life."

"There’s hope. That’s all we have right now."