The only threat I see..

It's been 30 years since the Islamic Revolution when, in 1979, Iran transformed itself from a constitutional monarchy into an Islamic republic. While I know very little about the event and its long aftermath (still ongoing), it's pretty straightforward to discern that there have been many successes (ex. education and health care) and failures (ex. religious/political oppression and the economy) along the path to yesterday's rally in Tehran celebrating its anniversary.

It's been 30 years of cold-to-very-cold relations between Iran and the US; the countries have been headbutting most recently over the funding of terrorist organizations (ex. Hezbollah) as well as the development of a (civilian-only?) nuclear program.. nevermind last week's satellite launch. But with a new US administration in place (Obama! et. al.), there is potential for a subtle warming. Long overdue.

In a televised address, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "promised that if the United States was truly serious about changing the countries’ relations, then Iran was ready to respond in kind." Read more at the NYTimes..

Iran Offers ‘Dialogue With Respect’ With U.S.
By Nazila Fathi
Published: February 10, 2009

Who knows what will come of this sort of nice-talk (on both sides). But certainly we got to start somewhere..

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In any case, the lightening tone (too hopeful?) of Iran-US relations has put the country back on my radar for, um, vacation travel.. potentially later this year, or, more likely, next. (Traveling through Iran initially came up in discussions with a travel buddy during my sabbatical planning in 2007; we went to Russia and the lovely Kyrgyzstan instead.)

In an effort to bolster my general knowledge about traveling in the country -- I really know zero about Iran -- I borrowed the new Lonely Planet (5th Ed.) from the library last week; and I'm starting to ask friends/acquaintances if they have any contacts or advice. Plus -- conveniently enough -- Iran borders a couple of other cool places on my ol' international to-do list: Azerbaijan and Armenia.. so I could potentially knock off a couple (with the addition of Грузия, natch) on one big trip.

Wait. Wait.. wait! Stop the presses..

Who am I kidding?; this is the real reason why I want to go to Iran..

Iran So Far (video)
(An SNL Digital Short)

From Andy; to Mr. Ahmadinejad: "You can deny the Holocaust all you want, but you can't deny that there's something between us." Oh man.. hahaha.

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This may all end up being an exercise in daydreaming, but we'll see. I've been known to make shizz like this happen on occasion. ;) I mean, southwestern Russia and the Caucuses are still the tops on my international travel list, but Iran is a rising star (with respect to sparking my imagination). So, if you *do* have any experience with the country, especially in the northwest -- say, Tabriz, Rasht, or the surrounding areas -- let me know. Ultimately, though, I'm open to it all; any and all advice is welcome. ;)