MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Iran has proposed waiving visa requirements for trips made by Iranian and Russian academics, Counselor of the Iranian Embassy in Russia Hadi Goudarzi told TASS.
"At the first stage, a visa-free [regime] for researchers and university professors can be launched so they can travel between Russia and Iran," he said. "The [relevant] proposal has already been submitted to our colleagues in Russia, and we are currently working on it. We will discuss this with our counterparts at the Russian Foreign Ministry," the Iranian diplomat added, referring exclusively to academic travels.
At a later stage, "we can mull cancelling visa requirements for ordinary people to enable their visa-free travel between the two countries," he added.
On August 1, 2023, Russia and Iran introduced visa-free travel for tourist groups. Under the agreement concluded on July 1, 2021, citizens of both countries will be able to visit each country for tourism purposes without needing to obtain visas provided they are part of a group of up to 50 people and for a period not exceeding 15 days.