7 Myths about Traveling to Iran

Let me tell the story of a piece of land stretched from the Caspian Sea in its North, to the Persian Gulf in its south; a country which hosted the Silk Road crossing over its vast territory; where one of the four classic languages of the world is the official language and poetry and proverbs flow through the speech.

I want to talk about a country where the people have woven art, colors and patterns in the fabric of life and presented the masterpiece of their skillful hands, the Persian carpet, to the world; a country, where women are regarded as divine and the guests to every household are respected as presents sent by God. Despite all of their mistakes peculiar to human nature, this nation has always been as supportive, pacifist and generous as a friend.

This is Persia, Iran.

This is an invitation to all awake souls, to the conscious human beings to judge whether incorrect assumptions as the following are attributable to such people?

Iran Is Not Safe!

The media bias and publicized reports have many people believe that Iran is an unsafe country. However, the experience of peoplewho have travelled safely across Iran corrects this mistakenly given impression. Particularly women and solo travelers should feel secure in choosing Iran as their destination and enjoy wandering in its exotic Bazars and other crowded places. Travelers to Iran need to clear their minds of misconceptions and if they survive crossing the streets, probably nothing else may threaten them during the journey!

Iranians Hate Western People!

You have the pleasure of meeting hospitable people while you are in Iran. They even give you a warm welcome when you run into them on the streets and may take you to the beautiful corners of their town. While the government does not have the friendliest attitude toward some of the western countries, the locals treat the tourists with hospitality, no matter their origins. So travel to Iran with ease, the people never fail to fascinate the travelers.

Iranians are Arabs!

Being frequently invaded by Arabs during the history, Iran has suffered enormous losses in the consistent body of its culture, politics and economy. Therefore, the locals take a hostile stance toward being confused with Arabs. Although it is believed that the people of the Middle East share the same ethnicity, Iranians are Persians, trying to strengthen their identity through using original Persian words in their everyday conversations and to practice Persian costumes to intensify this difference. Other than Persians, the vast area of Iran encompasses a wide range of ethnic groupsincluding Azeris, Lurs, Kurds, Balouchis and Arabs; only about 1.5 million Iranians are Arabs, living in the western and southern parts of the country.

Iranians are terrorists!

Unfortunately, the recent years have witnessed the rise of the terrorist attacks in different parts of the world, leading to the death of many people. While this is the shared problem of the international community, the media in many instances has not shunned the idea of creating the stereotype of Iranians as terrorists. The best contradiction to this notion is the fact that as the inheritors of thousands of years of history, Iranians are cultured people; they are famous for their intellect, high achievements in several fields and contributions to the advancement of science.

Iran Is All Desert!

Iran has gained reputation for its iconic deserts with golden sanddunes. As deserts constitute one-sixth of Iran’s territory, some people believe that the country is covered entirely by huge deserts. But we beg to differ as Iran is blessed with wonderful natural sceneries, stretching along the Caspian Sea, crystal water beaches lying along the Persian Gulf, green plains, mesmerizing lakes and waterfalls, as well as mountainous regions. In fact, Iran is so vast with such natural variety that every season – especially spring, fall and winter –  has plenty of activities to offer in different areas of Iran.

Getting an Iran visa is too difficult!

If you haven’t travelled to Iran because of the misconception that getting the visa is a difficult process, you should know that the citizens of around 7 countries do not need a visa to enter Iran. Citizens of the other countries can get their visa on arrival at the Iranian airports (except citizens of the US, UK and Canada) or do it with some clicks online, before their travel which will be typically approved in two or three weeks. You can find more information about Visa Procedures in Iran here.

Iran is an undeveloped country!

As one of the most developed countries in the Islamic world, Iran is a quite an advanced country in technology. Although its profile does not match the majority of the members of the developed countries, it has made a great progress in science, especially in medicine and aerospace. While transportation is getting quite developed in the capital and other large cities of Iran, one of the stereotypes that still bothers people is that Iranians ride camels and donkeys!