JEDDAH, 19 July 2003 — Iran has issued over 15,000 visas to Saudi tourists during the past 20 days, according to Iranian a senior Iranian diplomat in Riyadh.
“A great number of Saudi tourists are interested to spend their holidays in Iran, so the Iranian Embassy decided to offer facilities for their travel,” said Charge d’Affaires Alireza Enayati, quoted by the Tehran Times newspaper. A large number of tourists from the Gulf countries have shown interest to travel to Iran in recent years.
He emphasized that the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh and the consulate Jeddah respectively issue visas for Saudi tourists free of charge this year. Noting the interest shown by Saudi tourists to travel to Iran, Enayati said, “The Iranian flag carrier Iran Air has recently increased its weekly flights from Iran to Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia.”
“Saudi tourists can travel to the cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Mashhad with direct flights from Dammam,” he added.
