New Delhi: India on Monday (November 17) said Iran will discontinue its visa-free entry for Indian travellers from November 22, after a series of cases in which Indians were duped into flying to the country on fraudulent job offers or promises of onward travel and then kidnapped for ransom.

In an advisory, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it had taken note of “several incidents” involving Indian nationals who were lured to Iran by agents misusing the visa waiver available to ordinary passport holders. Once in Iran, “many of them were kidnapped for ransom,” the statement said.

The ministry cautioned that Indian nationals will now need visas to enter or transit through Iran, with the suspension intended to stop the facility being exploited by criminal networks.

The Iranian embassy in India tweeted that the tourist visa waiver has been suspended from Nov 22.

The announcement follows cases earlier this year involving Indians who attempted to reach Australia through an illegal “dunki” route that took them to Iran under the visa-free entry.

In May, three young men from Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Sangrur went missing shortly after landing at Tehran airport. Their families later told authorities that the men had been kidnapped by Pakistan-based “donkers,” beaten, and held for ransom.

The families claimed the youths were lured with promises of reaching Australia on work permits and had already paid agents in Punjab around Rs 18 lakh each. Once in Tehran, the alleged traffickers intercepted them outside the airport, identified them using photographs and abducted them. Video calls to the families showed the men with deep cuts and bruises, pleading for help as kidnappers demanded an additional Rs 18 lakh each.

The three men were rescued in early June after Iranian police raided the kidnappers’ hideout.

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