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Iran stops stamping passports

To alleviate concerns that a visit to Iran might complicate foreigners being able to enter the United States at a later date, Iran reiterated that it will allow tourists to enter the country through its international airports without having their passports stamped.
An Iranian police woman checks a passport at the Imam Khomeini International Airport 45 km (27.96 miles) south of Tehran April 30, 2005. Iran opened its new main international airport on Saturday, despite warnings from at least two countries that the runway may be unsafe. The Imam Khomeini International Airport, built to serve the capital Tehran, received a first commercial flight from Dubai almost exactly a year after its inauguration was aborted when the military closed it down because of concern over sec

To calm tourists' fear that a visit to Iran might prevent them from being able to enter the United States, Iran announced in June that it is allowing foreign tourists to enter through its international airports without stamping their passports. Under a US law passed in 2015, travelers who visit Iran and six other countries are subject to enhanced scrutiny when later attempting to enter the United States.

Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported on June 23 that President Hassan Rouhani had instructed the Interior Ministry to coordinate with the border police to eliminate rules related to stamping visas in foreign tourists’ passports. Government spokesperson Ali Rabiei had said on June 19 that the move is aimed at attracting larger numbers of tourists. Accusing the United States of “economic terrorism,” he also said that tourists to Iran fear that an Iranian stamp in their passports will create uncertainty for future travel and that the policy of not stamping passports would make them feel “comfortable” about traveling to Iran.

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