Cairo: Starting from Sunday, citizens of five Gulf countries will no longer need a tourist visa to enter Iran.
Nationals of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar will be allowed into Iran under a visa-free travel offered to citizens of a total of 28 countries, Iranian Ambassador to Kuwait Mohammad Toutounchi said. Omani passport holders already enjoy a visa-free facility to visit Iran.
Toutounchi said at a ceremony marking Iran’s National Day that Kuwaitis and Kuwait’s stateless Bedoons will be exempted from the entry visa along with nationals of 27 other countries as of February 4, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas reported.
The Iranian decision also applies to India, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia, Mauritania, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Belarus.
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The visa waiver applies to holders of ordinary and diplomatic passports, the Iranian envoy pointed out.
Accordingly, the visitor can go to Iran for tourism every six months and stay there for 15 non-extendable days.
In December, Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Ezzatollah Zarghami, said the visa-free decision is a message to the world, demonstrating Iran’s readiness to welcome visitors from around the globe and provide them with enhanced facilities for a convenient and enjoyable experience.
Iran, the minister added, aims to counter negative perceptions and combat the phenomenon of “Iranophobia perpetuated by the global arrogance system”.
Relations have recently grown between Iran and Gulf countries. Last March, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed through a China-brokered deal to re-establish their diplomatic ties after a years-long rupture.
