Iran's tourism industry has been severely affected by international economic sanctions. This study aims to evaluate the heterogeneous impact of sanctions on Iran's seven tourism zones (Northern, Northwestern, Northeastern, Western, Central, Southwestern, and Southeastern) and to calculate the weight of effective criteria influencing this vulnerability. The research method is descriptive-analytical with applied nature. Data were collected through library and documentary methods, with 2019 selected as the base year. Criteria weighting was performed using the group Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Expert Choice software. The opinions of 32 experts (including university professors, senior managers and experts from the Cultural Heritage Organization, and tourism industry practitioners) were gathered and consensus was reached using the Delphi technique over two rounds. The final ranking of zones based on their susceptibility to sanctions was conducted using the VIKOR model. The results showed that the "Advertising and Marketing" criterion (weight: 0.34) has the highest importance, while the "Attractions" criterion (weight: 0.16) has the lowest significance for tourism resilience under sanctions. The VIKOR model findings indicate that the Northern Zone, with a value of 0.00, was the least affected by sanctions. This resilience, rather than relying on international tourism, is based on a domestic tourism economy (population and capital concentration in Tehran, Caspian Sea attractions, and the substitution of expensive foreign travel with domestic trips). In contrast, the Southeastern Zone (value: 1.00) and the Southwestern Zone were the most severely impacted. This is due to their historical deprivation, weak infrastructure, high unemployment rates, and heavy dependence on government investments—factors that were effectively paralyzed by sanctions and reduced foreign exchange revenues. It is concluded that the impact of sanctions on Iran's tourism industry is neither uniform nor homogeneous. The Northern and Northwestern zones (benefiting from cross-border proximity and medical tourism) have demonstrated greater resilience,