P.S. I haven't visited Iran since high school over 12 years ago and I miss my friends and family there so much.
Unlike the rest of the world, Americans can only visit with organized tours.[0]
[0]Unless you've got some Persian relatives you're visiting.
[0]https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...
Unfortunately like many middle-east countries the government is not representative of the people.
It's possible, sure. But the risk of arbitrary detention would make it impossible to enjoy. The state department currently lists Iran as "Level 4: Do not travel", and suggests you have a will in order if you do [0]. There was a brief moment towards the end of the Obama era where it seemed things may have been thawing, but with the Soleimani assassination I don't have much hope for the future in that regard.
[0] https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/...
Most people in Iran know there are a bunch of assholes running things there just like there are here. Daily life for most people there consists mostly of mundane things like colored pencils.
Travel requires treating irrational fears as irrational. If you want to go, you can find a way. Your life will be different afterwards because that's what any travel does.
The ways in which people change from travel is why Americans have been banned from Cuba for sixty years and Iran for forty.
N.B. the argument that Iran will falsely label you a 'spy' feels weak to me given the order of magnitude of such detentions in recent history is in the tens. It would be equally improbably that most of these detentions were false positives as plenty of foreign intelligence operations happen in any country. Especially given the amount of foreign-intelligence related sabotage in recent Iranian history.
Extremely respected engineer both in Iran and America, ran tech initiatives for youths in Iran, a key figure in international text rendering. No political activity, but he got arrested and coerced anyway because the Iranian government wanted to force him to become a spy.
He managed to escape, but it ruined his life and career.
You may never see Iran...but not because you are an American. Instead, it is because Iran is a ticking time bomb.
Once the country opens back up, and it will open back up - you have to question whether there will be anything left to see.
Civil war is a nasty thing. See: Syria.
I recommend you visit now before its too late.
I don't think so. Sure, its a dictatorship and flawed in many ways, but that doesn't mean the people are not happy.
Society will bear some amount of constant pressure, to a certain degree.
If that pressure progresses into a puncture, society will rupture.
So far, Iran doesn't seem to be in that situation.
Iran has been in its current state since 1979. That is 40 whole years. And we have not seen any major shifts in their society.
It looks stronger than ever, now that Iraq and Afghanistan (thanks to the trigger happy policy of America) are in the dumps, Iran is a strong and critical player.
When I read your first paragraph I assumed you were referring to these mom and pop kinda shops going out of business once the economy develops, replacing them with cookie cutter malls or online retail.
Repression tends to lead to explosive results in the shape of civil war. See arab spring, syria, etc.
I don't think it has much to business (insofar tourism is concerned), but more about tourist sites being potentially destroyed.
I asked him once when it opened up again why he hadn't gone back. He said the trips are forced tours and that he wouldn't be free to get a car and revisit the haunts of his youth.
I made up my mind that I wouldn't visit Cuba until the communists were gone. I was pretty confident after Castro the government would fall. Now I am not so sure.
Whether it is safe - or wise - to do so is another matter.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/...