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Politics

Tajikistan’s visa waiver with Iran takes full effect at 30 days in every 90

The memorandum between the governments of Tajikistan and Iran on cancelling visas for holders of ordinary passports entered into force in full on 5 October 2026, Tajikistan’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday as Khovar carried it at 18:00. Citizens of either state may enter, transit or stay for up to 30 days in any 90-day period, through land crossings, international airports and air routes from third countries.

A raised barrier arm at a quiet mountain border crossing at dusk, a guard booth on one side and an arched gateway on the other, the empty road running down to a river and a bridge in the valley beyond.

The regime applies at international crossings, including land crossings, international airports and air routes from third countries, subject to the national laws of both states, the ministry said, and it covers holders of valid ordinary passports of either country. Thirty days in every ninety, and the clock started on Monday.

The notice came a day after Rahmon’s telephone call with Masoud Pezeshkian on 5 October, in which the Iranian president congratulated him on his birthday and the two spoke of the steady expansion of cooperation between the two countries, by Khovar’s readout of that evening. Pezeshkian is expected at Avaza on Friday for the Caspian summit and the CIS council, where Vladimir Putin plans to meet him after the events end.

Thirty days in every ninety, and the clock started on Monday.

Tajikistan’s trade with its four Central Asian neighbours reached $1.67 billion in January to August, about 18% of a total of $9.23 billion, by the statistics agency’s customs-based data as Asia-Plus reported on Tuesday, with Kazakhstan more than half of it and Uzbekistan the largest market for Tajik goods. Iran’s share of the total is a line in the same series that the report does not give.