Iran, the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism, has set its sights on a new goal: becoming a premier resort and tourist destination.
Iran is authorized It has gained support from broad segments of the international community for its support and funding of various terrorist networks in the Middle East that have killed scores of U.S. military personnel in recent years. The Islamic regime is notorious for imposing iron laws on the Iranian people and has one of the worst economic conditions in the world, but the Iranian government is trying to get into the holiday game and attract millions of tourists a year. , the news agency reported. report. (Related: ‘What did you say?’: Defense Secretary Biden reportedly furious over Israel’s sudden assassination of Hezbollah chief)
“Tourism is the greatest asset for Iran’s cultural diplomacy,” Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Seyyed Reza Salehi Amiri said at an event on Tuesday. “Cultural diplomacy promotes relations between nations, common understanding, collective peace and stability.”
“We must recognize that cultural heritage and tourism should become one of this country’s top three priorities. Promoting cultural diplomacy will ensure that tourism becomes a key economic driver. We can aim for a future that replaces oil revenues,” Salehi-Amiri said.
Salehi Amiri explained that the goal is to attract 15 million tourists to Iran by 2028. It also went on to say that Iran should build hundreds of new hotels by that year.
What our military did was to inflict minimal punishment on the usurping Zionist regime in response to its horrific crimes. It is a bloodthirsty regime, a wolf-like regime, a mad dog of the United States in the region.
— Khamenei (@khamenei_ir) October 6, 2024
According to Tehran Times, Iran saw a 21% increase in tourists in 2023.
“Cultural heritage is Iran’s soft power. Just as we need hard power for deterrence, we also need soft power to demonstrate our cultural and civilizational capabilities to the world,” Salehi-Amiri said. said Tuesday.
His comments were based on Iran’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) are just some of the other Arab countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Heritage Foundation says Iran’s economy is considered “repressed” given its widespread government corruption, weak rule of law and lack of strong trade ties with nearly all Western countries. . index About economic freedom.
There are also questions about how tourists in theory would be treated, given Iran’s incredible hostility towards the West and numerous human rights issues. abuseespecially towards women. Such abuses often go unpunished due to corruption even at the highest echelons of Iran’s government and law enforcement agencies.
The Iranian regime also sends large sums of money to various terrorist organizations in the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Oil, Iran’s main export, provides money for the regime to send to actors in the region.
Under the former Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Iran, Iran’s oil revenues plummeted. But in recent years, Iran has received tens of billions of dollars in additional revenue under the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy and sanctions relief.
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news distribution service, is available free of charge to legitimate news publishers with large audiences. All republished articles must include our logo, reporter byline, and DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
