TEHRAN – A senior Iranian tourism official has said that U.S.-led sanctions, targeting Iran’s economy, has failed to lessen foreign arrivals to the Islamic Republic.

U.S. sanctions have been ineffective in tourism industry of Iran, Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Deputy Director Vali Teymouri said on Thursday.

“The number of tourists visiting Iran has been unprecedented during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20),” Teymouri said in an interview with IRNA.

The official also referred to adopting Tabriz as tourism capital of Iran by Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2018, saying various national and international events were held in Tabriz last year.

The OIC chooses a city as tourism capital every year, he added. Meanwhile, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) adopted Hamedan as Asian countries’ tourism capital, he said.

The official said that decrease in Iran national currency value has made Iran tour packages more competitive, adding that over seven million tourists visited Iran during the last Iranian calendar year.

AFM/MQ/MG