TEHRAN – On Saturday, Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, met with Russian deputy transport minister, Aleksandr Neradko, putting forward a proposal to resume flights between the two countries.

Jalali proposed the resumption of Tehran-Moscow flights in a bid to facilitate traveling of Iranian businessmen and students to Russia, IRNA reported on Saturday.

For his part, Neradko underscored the importance of relations with Iran and added that his government has always paid special attention to this issue.

The Russia official referred to the damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak to the aviation industry, saying, “Due to the current situation, out of 78 airports in Russia, only seven airports are operational for international flights.

Iranian tourism minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan is scheduled to visit Moscow within the next coming days to follow up on the issue of visa-free travel for mutual tourist groups with the Russian Federation.

In 2017, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin inked a preliminary visa-free agreement for certain tourist groups during their meeting in Moscow. Based on the agreement tour groups of 5 to 50 people heading to [easternmost parts of] Russia from Iran or vice versa are granted a visa-free stay of up to 15 days.

AFM/MG