Iran waives visa requirements for Egypt, Lebanon, Syria nationals

Citizens from seven countries, including Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, will be able to travel to Iran visa-free thanks to new regulations, Iranian media has reported.

Citizens from the above countries, as well as Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Georgia and Turkey, will be able to stay in Iran without a visa for up to 90 days.

The move, which comes after the signing of a historic nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, UK, USA, Germany) on July 14, may pave the way for more country's nationals being allowed into the country visa-free.

Iran is a close ally of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and has played a major role in backing his regime in the country's civil war, as well as backing Hizballah, which dominates the political scene in Lebanon.

However, the country does not have particularly strong ties to Egypt, and so its inclusion on the list is possibly a sign of a strengthening relationship, and that Tehran places importance upon its links to the Arab world's most populous nation.

Iran has sought to allay the fears of Arab states after the nuclear deal, arguing that Iran has no designs on its neighbours.

Arab Gulf nations in particular have been lukewarm, at best, about the nuclear deal.

The Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, feted back home as the man who secured the deal at the negotiation table, started a tour of Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar on Sunday, hoping to convince the Arab world of Tehran's intentions.

Iran has better relations with the three countries than it does with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which see Iran as funding groups across the region that directly threaten their countries.