Iran wishes to have more direct flights destinations with Russia, as both countries have cities with touristic appeal beyond their capitals, Iranian Ambassador in Moscow Kazem Jalali said on Thursday.
"We need to diversify the number of destinations. Kazan has the potential for direct flights with Iran, Astrakhan and a number of other places too. There are also several cities in Iran where Russians could fly as well — these are Rasht, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz," Jalali told a press conference on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum "Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum" in Kazan.
The ambassador said that an "unprecedented" number of Iranians have visited Russia since 2023 and the increase in tourist trips from Russia to Iran has also been significant.
Iran and Russia signed an agreement on visa-free tourist travel in March 2023. According to the deal, a visa-free regime is established for groups of tourists up to 50 people entering Russia or Iran for up to 15 days.