Mashad, April 19, IRNA - Director General of Razavi Khorasan Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Department Hossein Zare Sefat said that foreign tourists' entry in the province increased by 5.5% compared to last year.

Zare Sefat told IRNA on Tuesday that 1,038,000 foreign tourists entered Razavi Khorasan from Lotf Abad, Sarakhs, Dogharoon, Bajgiran and Mashhad International Airport borders in the Iranian year 1394 (ended on March 19)

The figure was 984,000 in the previous Iranian year.

Mashad is the second most populous city in Iran and capital of Razavi Khorasan Province. It is located in the northeast of the country, close to the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

The city is most famous and revered for housing the tomb of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the Imam Reza shrine and pay their tributes to Imam Reza.

By IRNA