Iran reaches out to china with visa-free entry offer ‘within weeks’

Officials are targeting a groundbreaking increase to two million Chinese visitors per year, up on the 52,000 that visited the Middle Eastern nation last annum. Tehran has been plunged into

economic crisis after sanctions were imposed by US President Donald Trump in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal fallout. The US has denied Iran access to financial resources which has plunged

the country within inches of debt and recession.  Iran’s GDP is set to shrink by six percent this year and the deal with China is a brazen attempt to build another source of financial

input.  Speaking to Iranian news site IRNA, Iranian official Ali Asqar Munesan said that the move was an effective step to increase Chinese tourism to the nation.  He added: “We should

believe that [the] tourism industry is income generating more than the oil industry and that sanctions do not work on the tourism sector.”  China is now one of Iran’s closest allies as it

has defied US sanctions to continue tapping into Iranian oil.  Chinese citizens are one of the world’s most outbound tourists as 150 million trips abroad were made last year, with citizens

spending £223billion overseas.  It is seen as a growing industry as only nine percent of the population currently hold a passport.  Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Iran’s Deputy

Director for Tourism Affairs, Vali Teymouri said the new programme could be implemented by the end of July.  He added: “We believe that the two countries have had common cultural and trade

communications for a long time. So we should facilitate and improve mutual collaborations, especially in the tourism industry.” Tensions between the US and Iran have reached boiling point,

with Iran not ruling out the possibility of armed conflict with Washington.  Issues between the two nations escalated in June when Washington blamed Tehran for the sinking of two oil tankers

in the Gulf of Oman, something Iran has denied any involvement in.  Iran has said it will not comply with the terms of the nuclear agreement and have already harvested more uranium than

technically allowed.  Tensions are also frayed between America and China due to conflicts in the hotly contested South China Sea.