The Islamic Republic has announced it stands ready to annul visa requirements for visitors from neighboring countries if the other side does the same for visitors from Iran.
"Tehran is prepared to waive visa [requirements] or
facilitate the process of issuing visas for all countries, especially the
neighbors, if they take similar action,” said Hassan Qashqavi, Iranian Deputy
Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriates' Affairs.
The official cited Kuwait as an example, saying that Tehran
is planning to annul visa requirements for Kuwaiti nationals as the Arab
country no longer requires Iranian visitors to obtain visas.
Qashqavi, who was addressing a national conference on health
tourism, said that Iran has nearly halved tariffs for issuing health visas
compared to the fees charged for ordinary visas.
"…this shows Iran’s cooperation ... to ease traveling to
Iran for foreign nationals,” he said.
He noted that the Iranian territory is a safe destination
for foreign tourists as there has been no report of any incident for foreigners
visiting the country over the past few years.