Iran’s tourism minister Ali Asghar Mounesan is in the Russian capital, Moscow, to sign a deal to ease visa requirements for tourist groups traveling between the two countries.
The visa deal aims to facilitate group visas for tourists of both countries traveling through accredited travel agencies.
Travel agents will lodge visa applications for tour groups to receive one single visa for the visit, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
He expressed hope that by easing the visa process, bilateral tourist exchanges will gain momentum and form a strong foundation for further boosting ties between Iran and Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last year that the visa waiver deal for Iranian tour groups will take effect “after the Russian tourist agency determines an Iranian partner to regulate carrying out the agreement.”
Based on a 2017 agreement between Russia and Iran, tour groups of 5 to 50 people traveling to eastern Russia from Iran, or vice versa, were to be granted free two-week visas.