The government of Georgia has imposed restrictions on movement of individuals from Iran to Georgia and vice versa amid the recent coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told InterPressNews on Sunday.

According to the Ministry, at this stage, airlines will be banned to take passengers from Iran to Georgia and they will be allowed to enter the Georgian air space with empty planes in order to take the Iranian tourists who are recently staying in Georgia back to home.

“The government of Georgia is in constant communication with the Iranian authorities in order to receive the updates about the situation on the ground and the current preventive measures there”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It also noted that the Government of Iran is taking preventive measures, including the screening of the passengers traveling from Iran. Nevertheless, the Georgian authorities made a decision to temporarily restrict the movement to and from Iran for now.

“The Government of Georgia follows the developments and continues to work with its neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan. We do not exclude to impose restriction on the land border in future as well, if necessary”, the Foreign Ministry said.

The Ministry calls on the Georgian citizens to refrain from travelling to Iran in nearest future and asks the citizens of Georgia who are currently visiting Iran to contact the Georgian Embassy in Tehran, if necessary, at +989122997726.