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Iran Moves From Terrorism to Tourism
Iran has said it would offer cash incentives to travel agencies to encourage Western tourists to visit the country, giving a premium for Americans, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Tuesday. The proposal is Iran's latest bid to reach out to ordinary Americans in an attempt by the Islamic Republic's political leadership to show that its quarrel is with the U.S. administration — not U.S. citizens. It came as the United Nations Security Council deliberates a draft resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran for its disputed nuclear program. "Iran's tourism department will pay US$20 (€15.7) per person to those who attract European or American tourists to the country," the agency quoted Mohammed Sharif Malakzadeh, deputy head of the department, as saying.
Story Continues Below Visitors from other countries would earn travel agents US$10 (€7.8) a tourist, Malakzadeh said. Last week, Iran's fiercely anti-U.S. president expressed opposition to a bill by parliament that would require Americans to be fingerprinted on arrival in Iran. The bill, which passed a preliminary reading in the Iranian parliament earlier this month, was drafted by conservatives who sought to retaliate for U.S. requirements that Iranian visitors be fingerprinted. It is not debated yet. The U.S. measure, which also applies to nationals of some other countries, was implemented in 2002, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. In an earlier attempt to reach out to Americans, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January proposed the resumption of direct commercial flights between Iran and the United States, which were halted more than 25 years ago.
The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since Iranian militants stormed the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The atmosphere between the two countries improved marginally under former President Mohammad Khatami, who encouraged sport and cultural exchanges, but it deteriorated after the Sept. 11 attacks when President Bush declared that Iran belonged to an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea. Since taking office last year, Ahmadinejad has widened the gap with Washington by taking a hard-line position on Iran's nuclear program and calling for Israel's destruction.
© 2006 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Iran Nuclear Push
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