Iran proposes visa-free travel among ECO member states

Iranian Tourism Minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan on Saturday called for the Economic Cooperation Organization to consider granting visa-free travel for member states.

Report, citing the Tehran Times, said that Mounesan put forward the proposal during a meeting with Tajik Ambassador to Tehran Nizam al-Din Zahedi.

My suggestion is that ECO members adopt a standard visa policy because there are many cultural commonalities between these countries that bring them [closer] together.”

According to him, The first step towards canceling visas between Iran and Tajikistan or between the ECO countries could be visa-cancelation for group travelers.

The parties agreed to bring this issue up for discussion at the upcoming ECO summit.

In April 2018, during the Council of the foreign Ministry of the ECO countries in Tajikistan, the current chairmanship of the organization was transferred to Iran for three years.

Notably, the ECO was established in 1985 by Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan. Then seven new members - Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - joined the organization. The main goal of the structure is the sustainable economic development of the member countries and the region as a whole.