Iran

Understand

People Humans have inhabited the area that makes up modern Iran since the Stone Age. There are paintings in Dusheh cave that date back to 15,000 BC. The ancient Persians arrived about 1500 BC, one branch of the great movement of people that also brought northern India and most of Europe their modern populations. The name Iran is from the same root as "Aryan" which, until Hitler perverted it, was just an ancient name for those arriving peoples. Persian (natively known as Farsi) is an Indo-European language; ancient Persian was related to Sanskrit, ancient Greek, and all the others in that family. Persians are ethnically and linguistically unrelated to their neighbours on the west, the Arabs and Turks, but are related to various groups to the east and north. Iran has many people other than ethnic Persians; there are substantial minorities with their own languages, Minorities with Indo-European languages related to Persian include Kurds in parts of the west and northwest, Baluchis in parts of the southeast, and Armenians in the north and in Isfahan where one of the Shahs transported them a few centuries back. Minorities with Turkic languages include the Azeris who make up much of the population of Iranian Azerbaijan in the northwest and the Qashqai, a nomadic people in the region around Shiraz. There are also Arabs, who are mostly concentrated Khuzestan province, Assyrians and, last but not least, Jews, who have been living in Iran peacefully for centuries. Despite being a minority, Iran's Azeri population is larger than that of independent Azerbaijan. There are also two substantial communities of people of Iranian descent in India and Pakistan - Parsis who have been there for over 1,000 years, and Iranis who arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries - both Zoroastrians who

See

Ancient cities

Hegmatane (or Ekbatana) - The capital of the ancient Medes. In modern-day Hamedan. Persepolis - Probably the most important historical site in Iran. The capital of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire built by Darius. Near Shiraz. Pasargad (or P

Getting there

Dual citizens of Iran and a second country may only enter Iran on their Iranian passport, as the country does not normally recognize dual citizenships. Your bags probably will not be searched for salacious material, but if any is found, it will be confiscated and will complicate your arrival. Don't try to bring in any magazines or books that might offend strict Islamic sensibilities or criticise the government.

Visa-free entry Citizens of the following countries do not need a visa to visit Iran provided their stay does not exceed a certain number of days:

90 days: Armenia, Oman, Syria, Turkey 45 days: Georgia 30 days: Bolivia, Lebanon, Iraq 21 days: China (mainland), Hong Kong, Macau 20 days: Egypt 15 days: Malaysia, Venezuela 14 days: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan In addition, citizens of Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, India (for entry by air only), Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Tanzania, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe may visit Iran without a visa for up to 15 days, but are limited to a maximum of one visit every six months. Citizens of Russia may visit Iran without a visa for up to 15 days provided they join an approved group tour, with a minimum group size of 5, and a maximum group size of 50. Everyone else needs to apply for a visa from an Iranian diplomatic mission.

Visa

Normally, all tourist visas issued by Iranian consulates have a "3-month" validity. The visa allows you to stay in Iran for up to 30 days (sometimes you can get the tourist visa up to 90 days), although the duration of your visa is at the discretion of the MFA. All tourist visas will be issued as a single entry, u

Getting around

Iranian transport is of high quality, and is very affordable. There are few places the very cheap buses don't travel to, the train network is limited but comfortable and reasonably priced and travel by air is not expensive. The ticket prices are always fixed and you don't have benefits of early bookings. However, train stations and bus terminals are often located on the outskirts of their cities. As an extreme example, Shiraz Station is located farther away from the city center than Shiraz International Airport. Since city transport is notably underdeveloped, the cost of an intercity trip could mostly consist of taxi fares.

By plane

For anyone on a tight deadline, affordable domestic air services are a blessing. The major national carrier Iran Air, and its semi-private competitors such as Iran Aseman Airlines - Aseman meaning "sky" in Persian, Mahan Air and Kish Air link Tehran with most regional capitals and offer inter-regional flights for no more than US$60. Their services are frequent, reliable and are definitely worth considering to skip the large distances within Iran. Planes may be old as American sanctions have restricted the airlines' ability to renew fleets, and maintenance and safety procedures are sometimes well below western standards, but flying remains the safest way to get around Iran, given the huge death toll on the roads. Tickets can be bought at airports or travel agents dotted through the most major cities. Book early during the summer months of August and September since finding seats at short notice is virtually impossible. It is possible to pay extra to get onto a booked flight by bribing someone or paying them to take their seat on the plane. Some flights will auction off the last few seats to the highest bidder. For westerners, the conversi