Iranian private airline Mahan Air will launch direct flights to Moscow from next week, Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei said Wednesday.
On January 21 Mahan Air will launch direct flights between Moscow and Tehran with a frequency of one flight per week, Sanaei said in a Russian-language blog post on Livejournal, according to Sputnik.
The envoy said the number of flights would rise to two per week starting on February 20 – with flights leaving for Tehran every Monday and Thursday.
Sanaei said relations between Russia and Iran were on the rise. This is reflected by an increase in air traffic between the two countries.
Last year, Iran’s national flag carrier Iran Air resumed flights to Russia after a long hiatus.
Sputnik also quoted Sanaei as saying that Iran could “unilaterally abolish visa regime” for tourists arriving in the country from Russia.
This is while the Foreign Ministry in Tehran has said it will scrap visa requirements only for countries willing to reciprocate.
Iran currently issues airport visa to citizens of all, except 10 countries: Colombia, Somalia, Britain, Canada, USA, Bangladesh, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has waived visa requirements for residents of seven countries, including Azerbaijan, Syria, Turkey, Georgia, Bolivia, Egypt and Lebanon.
