SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT IRAN

The Iranian people consider themselves to be Persian. They are not Arabs, and many people resent being considered as Arabs or Iran as an Arab country. Their language is Farsi, not Arabic. They are a proud people. The 1st Persian Empire, under Cyrus the Great and his descendants, created the world’s first true super power. The culture was very advanced for that time and survived for about 200 years before being defeated by Alexander the Great (550-333 B.C.). At the height of its power, the empire included the modern countries of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, part of Greece, and extended to northern India. . Never before has such a large area, including so many people of different cultures and traditions, been controlled under a single system. Note the picture of Cyrus ‘ tomb.

The overall crime rate in Iran is low, and most places are safe. We were told that one of the biggest problem is drugs (sound familiar?). A lot of drugs are brought from Afghanistan through Iran to Turkey. No alcoholic drinks are sold in public. Our guide told us that in spite of this prohibition, many people have a drinking problem. The alcohol is smuggled into the country and is available if “you know where to get it.”


The country is beautiful. Colorful gardens and parks are numerous. The highways and streets are lined with greenery and, often, with flowers as well. The people use the parks. We saw many families picnicking in the parks, under trees along the highways, in fact, any place where a blanket could be laid out. A lot of the families included parents, children, and grandparents – or even larger groupings. It is obvious that getting out and enjoying such gathered fellowship is an important part of life.


The cities, the streets, the highways look clean. The people look well cared for and healthy. We were surprised to see that most of the signs, especially street signs, are printed both in Farsi and in English. That made it easy for us to follow a map, for the Farsi script is impossible for us to decipher, as you can see in the picture.


Persian carpets are looked upon by many experts as the finest in the world. We visited a number of carpet shops, for several members of our travel group were interested in purchasing a carpet. Persian carpets are, indeed, beautiful, made either of high quality wool or silk, or a combination of the two. Much skill and time is required to complete each carpet. They are sold all over the world.

Iran produces a lot of copper, 2nd only to Chili. A lot of iron is also mined and either used or exported.

Iran produces enough food to feed its people. Some seasonal fruits and vegetables are imported when they are out of season in Iran. They raise a lot of walnuts, almonds, and olives. We saw many fields of green vegetables and various other crops. Common meats are available except for pork. Tea is also a major crop (see in the pictures).





We have been asked about cars in Iran. There are a lot of them. Because of the sanctions, U.S. cars are not allowed to be exported to Iran. Most of the cars that we saw are late models and well kept. Cars that we saw include: Volvo, Hyundai, Peugeot, Saab, Citroen, Mercedes, Saba, Suzuki, 1 older Jeep Waggoner, Nissan, Kia, Paykan, Toyota, Renault, Mitsubishi, and Persian models manufactured in Iran. Some of the foreign models are put together at factories in Iran (same way we do it in the U.S.).

IRAN TRIP IN 2010

IRAN – OVERVIEW: Our trip to Iran was organized by Spiekermann Travel, a U.S. company that has been taking Americans to Iran for more than 15 years. They have never had any difficulties, and the Iran trips are very popular. Our guide, Bachmann, was as good a guide as we have ever had in our travels.

Quite a few people seemed shocked that we would travel to Iran and often asked “why go there?” We wanted to go for several reasons, including:[1] We like to travel to places where we have not been before. [2] We have been interested in Iran because of its long history. The Persian Empire of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. was the first real superpower in world history. Cyrus the Great and Darius, Persian rulers, are also important in the Old Testament. [3] Iran is filled with important archaeological sites, and we knew that we could visit a number of them. The picture is from Persepolis, one time capital of Persia,

[4] More important, though, was our interest in going to Iran as friendly ambassadors from America. We wanted to show the friendliness many Americans have towards the Iranian people. [5] We wanted to see for ourselves what Iran is really like. The Iran that we that we experienced is far different than the Iran that is reported by our media and by our politicians! And, our trip to Iran will go down as one of our very favorite excursions.




In our travels to many countries we have never been greeted with a warmer welcome or people more friendly than those that we met throughout Iran.

We traveled almost 4,000 miles by bus, plus a plane ride to the northern part of the country. We saw lots of mountains, many up to 18,000 feet in height. We had the chance to drive through some of them and enjoy spectacular views.

We saw extreme desert country, villages and cities, forests and barren landscapes.


We saw sites that are thousands of years old, and we saw modern cities with contemporary buildings and traffic jams.


Through all of our 3 weeks of journeying we were always greeted by a people who were hospitable. Without exception, they were excited to learn that were from the U.S., and we had numerous conversations, often spurred by meeting on a street or in some other public place such as a restaurant or park.
We could go anywhere that we wanted. There were no restrictions, except those we have in our country – military bases and the like. The only soldiers that we saw were guarding museums or archaeological sites, or young soldiers on leave. The only police that we saw were traffic police. Most of them were unarmed. This was a surprise, for it was so different from the impression that we have gotten about Iran here at home. We did not feel any discomfort or threat. Iran has a very low crime rate, and we felt completely safe, even when we were walking around on our own.