Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Restrictions
Avoid photographing airports, naval dockyards, nuclear reactors, roadblocks, military in-
stallations, embassies/consulates, prisons, telephone offices or police stations - basically,
any government building at all. A group of Polish travellers were detained for hours in
Bandar Abbas for taking a picture of the port, and we can speak from experience of being
arrested in Howraman-at Takht for unknowingly taking a photo of a hill that happened to
be the Iraq border. If you get caught, don't try to be anything except a dumb tourist.
Post
Postage is less reliable and much more expensive than it once was and can take quite a
while. Postcards can reach Europe in four or five days, but as some readers have reported
they might also take two months. Post boxes are rare except outside post offices. Poste
restante is unreliable. If you're sending mail to an Iranian address that's complicated or re-
mote, try to get the address in Farsi.
Parcels
Sending a parcel from Iran can involve much form shuffling, but your package will usu-
ally arrive. Take your passport and unwrapped goods to the parcel post counter (daftar-e
amanat-e posti) at the main post office (postkhuneh-ye markazi) in a provincial capital be-
fore 2pm. They will be checked, packaged and signed for in triplicate. There are three par-
cel services - pishtaz (express), havayi (airmail) and surface. Rates can vary, but a 5kg
parcel to anywhere by surface mail will cost less than US$100; air mail is more expens-
ive. The customs officer on duty generally has discretion over what can be posted abroad,
so be nice (see also Click here for customs regulations).
Telephone
Iran's country code is 98. To dial out of Iran call 00; if calling from outside Iran,
drop the initial 0 from all area codes. Phone numbers and area codes change with discon-
certing regularity, but in general numbers include a three-digit area code and a seven-digit
number. The exception is Tehran, where 021 is followed by an eight-digit number.
More than 90% of Iranians have mobile phone access and most travellers buy a SIM
card on arrival. If you need a payphone, cards are available in newsstands, though most
are for domestic calls only. In our experience, every second card phone is broken. Local
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