Qashqavi recently appeared on a live interview with IRIBโs international TV channel, Jame Jam, and gave details about the services the country gives to the Iranians living overseas including those imprisoned.
โStatistics gathered from the countryโs embassies and agencies throughout the world indicate that Iranians living abroad are enjoying an increased amount of services inasmuch as 20 to 30 per cent,โ Qashqavi stressed, as reported by ISNA and translated by IFP.
Services to Iranian Inmates Abroad
Qashqavi hailed Iranโs attempts to protect the rights of Iranian prisoners overseas and said, โAround 800 inmates incarcerated in 40 to 50 countries are released annually.โ
Iranโs Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the Parliament to allocate part of the countryโs next year budget for supporting prisoners abroad.
โProviding further support for Iranian prisoners, hiring defence lawyers, and holding negotiation for their freedom are among the services planned to be provided by the Ministry,โ he added.
โThanks to the attempts made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have Iranian prisoners released, we have been successful in some cases,โ he noted.
โSome have been swapped and a few others are spending their sentence terms in Iran.โ
Qashqavi pointed to the Iranian families living abroad and said, โIf members of their families are imprisoned there, hereby I give them an assurance that officials in Iranian embassies will spare no effort to help them if they refer to our embassy in that country.โ
Fast Consular Services
Qashqavi emphasized that most Iranian agencies abroad provide consular services within a span of one day, except for a few countries where it takes one week at most.
โVisa is also issued very quickly because the government does it electronically,โ he stressed.
Iran is one of the few countries that issues visas at the airport, he noted, adding, โExcept for 10 countries including the US, Britain, Canada and a few others, which act in accordance with the Law of Reciprocal Actions, travellers from other countries can receive 90-day visas on-arrival.โ
Diplomatic Relations with Britain and Canada
Regarding the status of diplomatic and consular relations with Britain and Canada, Qashqavi pointed to the legislation passed in the Parliament and said, โAccordingly, Iranโs diplomatic relations with Britain is at the level of charge d’affaires. Meanwhile, efforts by both sides to improve relations are in progress.โ
โConsular services for Iranians are agonisingly slow, though,โ he regretted.
โAlthough there have been changes in Canadaโs approach towards Iran, the process of visa issuance is still unaffected,โ he argued.
Therefore, he added, Iranians who want to obtain visa to travel to Canada are required to refer to the countryโs Interests Section or try neighbouring countries.โ