Rais and Rahmon were mistaken. The visa regime between Tajikistan and Iran is still in effect

The Ambassador of Tajikistan in Tehran stated that the authorities of Iran and Tajikistan misinterpreted the results of the negotiations on the introduction of a visa-free regime.

The Ambassador of Tajikistan in Iran, Nizomiddin Zohidi, stated that when announcing the results of the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Tajikistan and Iran regarding the cancellation of visas for holders of ordinary foreign passports, the parties did not pay attention to the essence of the issue.

As Iranian media reported, Nizomiddin Zohidi stated that “when this Memorandum of Understanding was prepared, instead of writing that the visa regime would be canceled between Tajikistan and Iran, it was written that the visa regime would be canceled between Dushanbe and Tehran.”

According to the Ambassador of Tajikistan in Iran, due to this mistake, now only those flying on direct flights from Dushanbe to Tehran or Tehran to Dushanbe can travel without a visa, while all passengers flying, for example, on the Mashhad-Hujand and Kulyab-Kish flights or vice versa, must have a visa.

Nizomiddin Zohidi also lamented that due to the high cost of airline tickets, the number of tourists from both countries has not increased, even though the visa-free regime between the capitals of the two states was introduced more than 20 days ago.

In order to increase tourist visits, Tajikistan plans to launch other new flights between the cities of Tajikistan and Iran. These new flights will be opened after amendments are made to the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Tajikistan and Iran regarding the cancellation of visas for holders of ordinary foreign passports between Shiraz and Dushanbe and between Kish and Dushanbe.