TEHRAN – Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali Asghar Mounesan on Monday met with his Omani counterpart Ahmed bin Nasser al-Mahrizi in Muscat, discussing ways to promote bilateral ties particularly in the arena of health and medical tourism.

As part of his trip to the sultanate, Mounesan on Monday also toured Muscat National Museum, Royal Opera House, and a miniature exhibit featuring works by Iranian artist Fatemeh Maleki, IRNA reported.

Oman’s tourism minister had visited the Islamic Republic in February 2018.

Mounesan said in August that medical [and health] travelers constitute a significant share of arrivals in the country.

Mounesan announced in August that medical [and health] travelers constitute a significant share of arrivals in the country.

“[Nearly] 7.8 million foreign nationals visited Iran over the past [Iranian calendar] year [ended March 20] that a significant number of whom were medical tourists.”

The Islamic republic hosted a record high of nearly 600,000 medical travelers during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 21), nearly equal to the figure for the whole past year, according to an Iranian association for the health tourism promotion.

People from the Persian Gulf littoral states, Iraq and Syria as well as Iranian expatriates residing in Canada and Germany constituted the majority of medical travelers to the Islamic Republic, who received plastic, cosmetic, open-heart and orthopedic surgeries amongst other treatments.

Many domestic experts say that medical tourism in Iran produces win-win outcomes as the country yields considerable benefits to international health-care seekers, offering affordable yet quality treatment services.

The country has set its goals to exceed its yearly medical travelers to around 2 million in [calendar year] 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

AFM/MG