Iran had decided to suspend visa-free travel for Indian citizens to Tehran starting November 22. The country made the move, reportedly after several cases of Indians being lured to the country with false promises of employment and opportunities were reported.
The Ministry of External Affairs responded to the suspension by issuing an advisory urging Indians to avoid visa-free travel or onward transit to third countries via Iran. They said that they put up the measure to prevent further cases of Indians being lured or tricked into journeying to the country, only to get kidnapped for ransom.
The MEA said in the advisory, “The attention of the Government has been drawn to several incidents of Indian nationals being lured to Iran on false promises of employment or with assurances of onward transit to third countries. These individuals were tricked into journeying to Iran by taking advantage of the visa waiver facility available for ordinary Indian passport holders. On arrival in Iran, many of them were kidnapped for ransom."
The Iranian government suspended their visa waiver facility to ordinary Indian passport holders visiting Iran. The measure will go into effect on November 22. The advisory said, “This measure is intended to prevent further misuse of the facility by criminal elements. From this date, Indian nationals with ordinary passports would be required to obtain a visa to enter or transit through Iran.
The foreign ministry had earlier issued a warning to citizens, reminding them that the visa-free entry was meant exclusively for tourism purposes and was valid for 15 days once every six months, and did not cover employment.