On Sunday, Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, the spokesman of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO), announced that all flights to and from 32 countries have been suspended due to the latest decision of the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control, IRIB reported.

The new restrictions also limit travels between the Islamic Republic and England, Angola, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guinea, Lesotho, Guyana, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritania, Rwanda, Sicily, Suriname, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zambia.

Regarding the admission status of travelers from countries with special conditions, the official said: “For direct or indirect flights to Iran, passengers, who have stayed in one of the cited countries for more than four hours within a maximum of two weeks before the date of travel, will not be able to enter the Islamic Republic of Iran until further notice.”

Earlier this month, Iran announced it would reduce the validity of negative COVID-19 PCR test results from 96 hours to 72 hours for inbound and outbound passengers.

The new regulation replaced a role that required to bar passengers from boarding if they do not have a negative COVID test within 96 hours of departure.

All passengers are subject to the medical screening on arrival, and if they are suspected of having the disease, non-Iranian nationalities will be quarantined at a place specified by the Health Ministry at their own expense and Iranian citizens will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

The worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill, and tourism has been the worst affected of all major economic sectors.

World tourist arrivals fell by 72% over the first ten months of 2020, according to data compiled by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in December.

Restrictions on travel, low consumer confidence, and a global struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic are amongst factors contributing to the worst year on record in the history of tourism. Iran has also suffered the same fate as its foreign arrivals plunged 72% during the first eight months of 2020 when compared to 2019.

AFM/