Senior tourism officials from Iran and Russia finalized a joint plan of action that allows the nationals of the two countries to travel in groups of up to 50 people with one visa.

In a meeting held in Moscow on Monday, Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali Asghar Mounesan and Head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism Doguzova Zarina Valeriyevna finalized a joint plan of action to implement a visa-free agreement that had been signed in March 2017.

Under the visa-free agreement, Iranian and Russian tourists can travel in groups including five to 50 people.

The deal enables the tourists of the two countries to travel to Iran and Russia through accredited companies, and the entire group will receive one visa.

In comments at the meeting, Mounesan said more than 60,000 Iranians used to travel to Russia each year before the outbreak of the coronavirus, expressing hope that the termination of the pandemic would help the tourist industry boom in the two countries.

In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of Iranian tourists travelling to Russia, particularly to Moscow and Saint Petersburg