Iran Unilaterally Cancels Visa Requirements for 33 Countries
The Islamic Republic has unilaterally canceled visa issuance requirements for 33 countries.
Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts announced yesterday, Wednesday, December 13th, the cabinet’s approval of unilaterally canceling visa requirements for 33 countries.
According to the approved resolution, citizens of India, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam in Asia will no longer need to obtain visas to travel to Iran.
In addition to the above countries, citizens of Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Belarus in Europe, as well as Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela in Latin America have also been exempted from obtaining visas to travel to Iran. Additionally, citizens of Tunisia, Mauritania, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles in Africa also do not need to obtain visas to travel to Iran.
Ezzatollah Zarghami described the approval of this resolution as “a courageous and prudent decision” and emphasized that the Iranian government intends to open the country’s doors to the world, and that this unilateral cancellation of visa requirements is, in fact, a dialogue with the people of the world.
It is worth noting that the approval of visa cancellation for the aforementioned countries comes at a time when many citizens of European and American countries have been arrested by Iranian security and intelligence agencies following their travel to Iran, charged with espionage, and remain imprisoned. Many Iranian officials have explicitly referred to hostage-taking of citizens of other countries as a method aimed at obtaining political concessions from other nations or in various negotiations.
It appears that Iran’s unilateral cancellation of visa requirements for the aforementioned countries has prompted Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts to revitalize the tourism industry in Iran, which has been stagnant for some time.
