Iran offers visa-free travel to 33 nations, including India.
The government of Iran announced on Thursday that it was eliminating visa requirements for 33 nations worldwide, including the Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia, with Tehran having tense relations for many years before a recent breakthrough.
According to the semi-official ISNA, "The Ministry of Tourism believes that this open door policy of Iran will help Iran demonstrate its determination to get close with different nations worldwide."
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This decision can extend from 30 to 45 nations or territories. The citizens of the 45 countries will be able to visit Iran without having a visa, further stated by them.
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This can also come across as another opportunity for Iran and Saudi Arabia to engage further after years of conflicts between the two rivals in the Gulf of Aden which produces oil.
In the past ten years, Riyadh and Tehran have joined forces with warring parties in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. Assaults on the Saudi oil framework, which Western authorities fault on Iran and its Bedouin intermediary powers, compromised lately to send the Center East into additional contention. Iran denied participating in those assaults.
Iran and Saudi consented to reestablish full political relations, cut off in 2016, under a Chinese-interceded understanding in Spring.
In addition to Bahrain, with whom Tehran has not yet fully reestablished ties, the decision to waive visa requirements includes the nationals of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
ISNA gave a full rundown of the nations, which included Lebanon, Tunisia, India, and a few Focal Asian, African, and "Muslim" countries. The list contained only one Western-allied European nation, Croatia, a small NATO and European Union member.
ISNA further added that the Russians can only benefit from this visa exemption if they visit the country in groups.
Before this announcement, Omani nationals could travel to Iran without requiring a visa.
Iranian media reported on Wednesday that regular travel by Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will begin on December 19 for the first time in eight years.
