TEHRAN - Seyyed Zia Hashemi, Cultural Deputy to the First Vice President of Iran, has announced efforts by the government and parliament to ease travel procedures for millions of Iranians living abroad who wish to visit their homeland.

Speaking on Saturday at a quarterly meeting of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts in Tehran, he emphasized the strong interest among expatriates to travel to Iran.

Earlier this year, the deputy tourism minister, Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey, highlighted that around eight to nine million Iranians live abroad.

He stressed the importance of adopting a strategic and trust-building approach to attract them for tourism or extended stays.

Available data suggests that some 7.3 million foreign tourists visited the Islamic Republic during the past Persian year 1403, which ended on March 20, 2025.

As mentioned by, Mohseni-Bandpey, the data is based on internationally recognized definitions of tourism, which classify any individual who stays at least one night in a destination as a traveler, whether Iranian expatriates or foreign nationals.

The deputy minister noted that the ministry maintains detailed and disaggregated data regarding the origin countries of the visitors, the number of arrivals, and their destinations within Iran.

The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots, such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 29 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

AM