A deputy head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said Tuesday that five million foreign travelers visited Iran last year [ended March 20, 2015].

Morteza Rahmani further said that pilgrims, mostly from neighboring Iraq, accounted for around 50 percent of foreign arrivals who mostly visited the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom as well as Shiraz.

He added cultural and historic tourists mostly came from Europe and West Asia, and a number of health tourists arrived in Iran for medical treatment.

By IFP