There has been a sharp decline in the number of Western tourists coming to Iran after a Ukrainian aircraft was shot down.

Axar.az reports this was reported by one of the Iranian officials to IRNA.

"Most of the tourists expected to come to Iran from the US and Europe over the next two months have canceled their visits," the Iranian official said.

He said the government should help the private sector to solve this problem.

The Boeing 737, which operates the Tehran-Kyiv flight, crashed shortly after landing on January 8. All 176 people on board were killed.

Iran has admitted that a Ukrainian aircraft was accidentally shot down.