Iran recently announced a Visa Waiver Programme for citizens of 28 countries visiting the Islamic Republic in order to boost its Tourism Industry and to strengthen international connectivity. Tehran allowed citizens of India and 27 other countries to enter the West Asian nation on a visa-free basis on February 4, 2024. However, this facility is applicable only for those entering Iran by air, and not by land. The Foreign Ministry of Iran mentioned in a statement that foreigners arriving through the land border must obtain a visa.

In the statement, the Foreign Ministry stressed that citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, India, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia, Tanzania, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Belarus would enjoy the visa-free facility.

Alireza Bigdeli, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriates Affairs, said that citizens of these countries would not require a visa to visit Iran as tourists. He also said that the Cabinet passed an executive order regarding the new visa policy in the first week of February 2024.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi issued a separate statement, mentioning that the Indians would have to meet four conditions to avail this facility. Indians holding ordinary passports will get this facility once every six months. The visa-free travel to Iran shall be available for 15 days only. In other words, one would require a visa for spending more than 15 days in Iran or for visiting the country more than once in six months. Only tourists can enjoy the visa waiver, as a visa shall be required to visit Iran for business or other purposes. This facility shall be applicable only for Indians arriving in Iran by air.

It may be noted that a number of countries, including Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka, have relaxed visa norms for Indians in the past few months. In Iran, the Indian nationals used to enjoy the visa on arrival facility. They were also allowed to apply for an e-visa. Now, tourists from India do not need any visa to visit Iran for 15 days, if they meet those four conditions.

The Foreign Ministry further revealed that Iran received 4.4 million foreign tourists from March-October 2023. The figure is 48.5% higher compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das