Russia's embassy in Tehran has issued an alert urging Russian tourists not to take photos or videos in Iran to prevent "undesirable incidents and unintentional violations of the law", according to a statement published on December 3, seen by IntelliNews.

The warning comes as travel between Russia and Iran has increased following Western sanctions on both countries, with Iran pushing for more inbound tourism from Russia in recent years to fill tourism coffers.

Russian officials and Iranian tourism authorities indicate that Russian arrivals to Iran in 2024 were on the order of “tens of thousands”, with projections clustering around roughly 50,000-60,000 visits for the year rather than hundreds of thousands as initially envisaged by Tehran authorities.

"Russian citizens are strongly recommended to refrain from photography and videography when travelling to the Islamic Republic of Iran and strictly follow local legislation and exhibit reasonable caution and prudence," the embassy said on its channel.

Iran has strict rules regarding photography, particularly near government buildings, military installations, infrastructure and in some public spaces, which are often located in historical buildings near or adjacent to tourism attractions.

Violations can result in detention and questioning by Iranian security services, with authorities particularly sensitive to images of strategic sites, protests or anything deemed to compromise national security.

Iran's laws also restrict photography of women without consent and images that authorities consider contrary to Islamic values.

There have been no reports of any incidents occurring before the embassy’s social media message, which was later picked up by Moscow-based media querying if an incident had occured. 

Russian tourist arrivals to Iran have grown as traditional European destinations have become less accessible due to visa restrictions and flight route closures following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Russian Union of Tourism Industry (RST) suggested that a warning issued by the Russian embassy likely applies to military and strategic infrastructure rather than general sightseeing, but did not confirm.

Artur Abdyukhanov, head of the RST press service, stated that the diplomatic mission's message was likely recommendatory in nature, focusing on special infrastructure or military buildings. He noted that such restrictions are standard security practice in the region.

"Most likely, this ban concerns only special infrastructure objects, but for independent tourists, historical or natural places are of primary interest," Abdyukhanov said. "Photographing nature where there are no objects is probably still allowed."

He added that the union could not yet officially confirm or refute these assumptions.

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development issued guidance in June advising Russian tourists and tour operators to avoid travel to Iran and Israel due to the security situation. This recommendation remains in effect as of December 3.

In early 2025, Iran’s ambassador in Moscow said tourist flows between Russia and Iran had “increased significantly” over the past five years and were still rising. Still, he did not publish exact 2025 headcounts for Russians visiting Iran, Tass previously reported.

"All us Russians and Iranians need to visit each other more often and see what's going on with our own eyes. I can say that earlier, say, five years ago, tourist flows were small, less than what we would like, but over the past five years, there are signs of a very good growth in tourist exchange,"  Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said in February.

An April 2024 Russian strategic research brief said total mutual tourist flow between the two countries “could reach 60,000 people in 2024,” implying Russian trips to Iran plus Iranian trips to Russia combined, Interfax previously reported.