Dr Samira Asgari, a postdoctoral fellow at EPFL, was originally due to fly to Boston on January 28th, a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
Asgari, who was due to join a lab researching human diseases, told the media she was “totally shocked” at being prevented from boarding a connecting flight to Boston in Frankfurt.
She then tried again from Zurich three days later but was once again denied boarding.
However on Friday Asgari finally arrived in Boston, after a US federal judge blocked Trump’s order to allow anyone with a valid visa to travel.
Tweets showed the scientist being welcomed on to US soil by her new colleagues.
Member of Iranian #Harvard affiliate Samira Asgari's lab await her arrival in BOS after she was twice denied entry to the US @thecrimson pic.twitter.com/gzmGSpHfAZ
— Hannah Natanson (@hannah_natanson) February 3, 2017
Third time lucky! https://t.co/erqe3sC61v
— Samira Asgari (@samsam_86) February 4, 2017
Swiss International Airlines was one of several carriers departing Switzerland who confirmed they would once again take passengers from the seven countries listed by Trump’s order.
“At the moment, any passenger with valid travel documents can travel on any flight to the US,” said Swiss in a statement on Saturday.
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