TEHRAN – Problems in issuing Iran visas for U.S. nationals have been solved so that they can easily obtain the entry permission for traveling to the country, says the chief executive of the Iranian Tour Operators Association.

The time of visa application for U.S. citizens has been reduced to two weeks as it took at least one month in the past, ISNA quoted Ebrahim Pourfaraj as saying on June 5.

He called the new approach an exclusive privilege to American travelers who are considered as big spenders in the country.

Iran has remained committed to strengthening ties and building its tourism sector with the international community, despite travel bans the Donald Trump administration has introduced to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran.

In January, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country, even though Tehran had vowed to respond in kind to a U.S. ban on visitors from Iran and six other Muslim countries ordered by President Donald Trump.

“Unlike the U.S., our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed,” Zarif said on Twitter.

The lifting of sanctions on Iran in the wake of a landmark nuclear deal Iran and power powers inked in 2015, has resulted in a surge of bookings and travels form Westerners. 

Many tour operators say the demand has been so acute that they are racing to add new departures and selling them in record time.

Pourfaraj has operated four tours of American nationals that were composed of 90 people since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2017), ISNA reported.

Iran hosts some of the world’s oldest cultural monuments, including 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and its varied terrain ranges from desert locales to ski resorts.

PHOTO: An undated picture released by irandoostan.com shows Western travelers posing for a photo near Chehel Sotoun, a Safavid-era pavilion in Isfahan, central Iran.

AFM/MG