KUALA LUMPUR, June  12 — Iranian tourists want their stay in Malaysia to be extended again, said Tourism and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

He said based on reports, tourists from Iran are calling on the government to at least restore the three months stay in Malaysia, just like before.

“This is because Iranians are keen to visit Malaysia and stay a little longer. I received reports concerning this matter from friends in travel agencies,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Hasan Ariffin (BN-Rompin) in Dewan Rakyat, today.

Previously, tourists from Iran were allowed to stay in the country for up to three months, but now the period has been shortened to 14 days for certain reasons.

“Since not many Iranians are known to commit crime in Malaysia and because of the increasing number of tourist arrivals from Iran to Malaysia, I hope my cabinet colleagues give some attention to this request,” he said.

Mohamed Nazri said there was a constant arrival of tourists from the Middle East to Pahang, despite a decline last year when there was 2.3 million visitors compared with 2.4 million in 2013.

He said Pahang needed to intensify tourism programmes to attract more tourists from the Middle East, especially during the fasting month.

Responding to a question from Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan), Mohamed Nazri said many interesting programmes have been, and will be carried out by the federal government in Penang to boost tourism.

Among the programmes carried out was the World Curry Festival, held in January, which was previously only held in the United Kingdom. — Bernama