Arrivals of foreign nationals from southern African countries as their departure through all Iranian borders have been banned until further notice, according to the director general of Transit Affairs Bureau with Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization.
“Foreign nationals coming to Iran from destinations other than the southern African countries must have a vaccination card, meaning they must have injected both doses of Covid-19 vaccine, and carry a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours from their arrival,” Javad Hedayati was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The ban applies to South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.
Iranians returning home from these countries will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival and undergo three PCR tests during this period.
The ban comes amid the outbreak of a new variant of coronavirus called Omicron in South Africa.
Earlier, Imam Khomeini International Airport’s Public Relations Office announced all direct and indirect arrivals of foreign nationals from southern African countries have been banned until further notice.
IKIA operates all foreign flights to and from Tehran.
The World Health Organization said on Monday the Omicron coronavirus variant carried a very high risk of transmission, while border closures by more countries cast a shadow over an economic recovery from the two-year pandemic, Reuters reported.
Big airlines acted swiftly to protect their hubs by curbing passenger travel from South Africa, where the new Omicron variant was first detected, fearing that a spread of the variant would trigger restrictions from other destinations beyond the immediately affected regions, industry sources said.
But shares in carriers bounced back with the rest of the market on Monday following Friday's rout, as hopes grew that the variant might prove to be milder than initially feared.
The WHO advised its 194 member nations that any surge in infections could have severe consequences, but said no deaths had yet been linked to the new variant.
"Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic," the WHO said.
The overall global risk related to Omicron is "very high", it said.
