For a vacation getaway, how about Iran?

They say Tehran is lovely this time of year.
Or maybe they don’t. But even as nuclear tensions grow between Iran and the United States, Tehran has decided to reach out to American tourists.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency reports that Iran is offering travel agencies $20 a head for each American who can be persuaded to visit. Visitors from most other countries are only worth $10.
While that’s pretty cheap as incentives go, it’s interesting that Iran’s fiercely anti-U.S. president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sees something to gain by attracting Americans.
In January, Ahmadinejad proposed the resumption of direct commercial flights between Iran and the United States, which were halted more than 25 years ago.
Posted by Dave Knadler

12 Comments

  1. Roo Haa
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 2:49 am | Permalink

    Dave, shouldn’t you put it “$20/person?”

  2. rm6046
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 3:25 am | Permalink

    Decisions, decisions ! I was so looking forward to Thanksgiving in Mogadishu, and now this. What to do? What to do ?

  3. Roo Haa
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 3:40 am | Permalink

    Borat may recommend some place like Astana. Book soon, you may be in time for 15th anniversary of independence day in december. If anything, I heard they serve good caviar along the coast. And, if you’re lucky, bring in the new year with the world’s largest rocket launch.

  4. steve
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 7:06 am | Permalink

    Is that 20 dollars a head, a figurative expression?

  5. Erik
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 7:46 am | Permalink

    North Korea is apparently nice to visit, but of course they dress things up for the “Friends” visits they have once a year.

    And amazingly enough there is a special tour for American citizens if you can pay the hefty price.

    Would I go to Iran? It wouldn’t be my first eastern european choice. But why not.

  6. JM
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 10:15 am | Permalink

    heh

    $20 a head sounds like a fulfillment of a bounty.

  7. hass
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 10:31 am | Permalink

    Actually, lots of Westerners do go to Iran and they all report that Iran isn’t what they expected (or what the US media portrays) It is a great place to visit if you want to learn something. This is an ancient civilization that shaped the world – even the English language!

    Here’s some links to their travel reports:http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/base/1406

  8. Wiseman
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

    Hey HassDo they still have the law that any man for any reasons can stab you below the waist line with a 6 inch dagger?As recalled that was consider just an assault with no repercussion to being a crime.

  9. Ian Santiago
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 2:39 pm | Permalink

    I will be in iran next month for the scholarly conclave on the “Holocaust”, and I look forward to the trip. I have been to Iran in the past and it is an interesting place. The name “Iran” means Aryan and it was a great White civilisation before it was ruined by race mixing and Islam.

    Viva La Raza Blanco!!

  10. Sergei Etonhurst
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 3:38 pm | Permalink

    I Visited Iran last year for a couple of weeks in June. It was spectacular and I found the people to be friendly and hospitable. It is an ancient civilization with marvelous sites to match. I’m afraid Kansas cannot compete with that.So, in spite of Ahmadinejad, whom I never got to meet (he hadn’t even been elected at the time) although Mr. Bush considered Iran an “axis of evil” well before that; the country was thoroughly enjoyable and the food was quite sophisticated and delicious. I found the food to remind me of Greek cooking except more advanced, more developed.As for “axis of evil”, I didn’t find Iranians taking up wearing black cloaks or dark capes.

  11. taz
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 5:25 pm | Permalink

    typical american cheap jibes about iran.remember thiswhat you have no knowledge off, you become its enemy

  12. Sam
    Posted November 3, 2006 at 6:39 pm | Permalink

    If you are not afraid of finding out more about Iran beyond the caricatures drawn in the US media, the following items may help you:

    An account of Iran from a recent visitor (Scott Ritter) in the November 06 article “The Case for Engagement”:http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061120/ritter

    Book by Terence Ward (2003): “Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran” available from Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Hassan-Journey-Heart-Iran/dp/1400032237/sr=8-1/qid=1162599672/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9070236-3704846?ie=UTF8&s=books