MNA � A delegation from UK�s Foreign and Commonwealth Office�is scheduled for a visit to Tehran late Sep. to hold consular talks with the Iranian side, a member of Parliament's�National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said Saturday.


Alireza Rahimi made the announcement while noting the recent meeting of Iran-UK Parliamentary Friendship Group�in Tehran, which was also attended by a member of UK Parliament, UK ambassador to Tehran and a number of UK embassy staff.

According to Rahimi, the UK ambassador discussed the executive obstacles in the way of issuing UK visa for Iranian citizens.

Rahimi went on to note the possibility of agreement between the two sides on increasing the number of visas for Iranian nationals, adding �during the meeting, the person responsible for Iran's desk in the British Foreign Office announced that currently the UK embassy is issuing 150 visas every week in Tehran and by increasing the number of personnel in this section, it would be possible to issue visas for 250 people per week.�

Rahimi maintained that the process to increase visa issuance for Iranian citizens has already gone underway in the UK Foreign Office, predicting that the two sides would reach agreement on issuing more visa for Iranian nationals during the consulate talks scheduled for late September or early October.

He further added that the current restrictions on visa issuance for Iranian nationals have forced them to request for visas from UK embassies in neighboring countries, which has caused a number of problems for them.