Current situation Iran

[Jefta]

Me and my wife are planning to travel to Iran from Tajikistan in around 2 weeks. Now the current situation in Iran has changed and we heard from TAPPersia (they arrange our visa application because the first one was rejected) that there probably is a delay in the Visa application from more than a week and even more. So we’re still hoping for a positive outcome, but are also doubting a bit about the safety right now?!
So a question for the travellers who are now in Iran, can you give me a update how the current situation is from your perspective and does is still feel/is safe to travel around? I am aware that I only see en hear a small side of the story.
Thanks for the reactions!!
Greetings, Jefta

[Roadtophnompenh]

I will cross the bazargan border today and will keep you updated.
I travelled a lot in my lofe for work and from experience i know very often of there are clashes or even shootings, and you are half an hour drive away, you wont notice it. What you see on social media is ofcourse only the worst.
I will keep informed, depending a bit on how internet is working the other side of the border .

[Jefta]

From two direct contacts who are living in Iran I heard that there is a lot going on on the streets. They are not really positive about the current situation right now, and sounded pretty desperate. They told me that there is a lot of people and police on the streets, stores are closed and there is barely a internet connection in the country. For now they actually advised me it's not the best time to go....but situations can change in 2 weeks.

[Roadtophnompenh]

I crossed the border yesterday,it took about 3.5 hours, it was a public holiday, and it was crowded. The insurance for my car was a small problem, the office was closed, but some fixer had contacts and arranged it, ofcourse at "scam-price".Later i went to Maku (first bigger town over the border, about 20 km) to find a sim-card, my turkish sim stopped working after about 5 km from the border. Because of the holiday, also a problem. But i found some local guys who did big efforts and arranged me a simcard, took some time also, but it was okay. Internet is down often after 5 pm, when the protests start, and often its down locally. Telegram not working, skype works bad. Normal emails work pretty well. Off i went to Tabriz to arrive in my hotel at about 20.30h, it took 11 hours from Dogubeyazit to Tabriz. It was really busy when i enterd Tabriz, but from all the protests i didnt see anything, for sure its somewhere in the citycenter and Tabriz is a big town. Probably i will find out more tonight !! But nothing to worry in my eyes !!

[TassieLuke]

How did you find the situation since the last post? I am hoping to enter from Iraqi Kurdistan in a week or so. Keep away from large crowds and don't do anything silly and should be fine?

[Roadtophnompenh]

i travelled 12 days from turkish to pakistani border, and has no issues at all, didnt see or hear any prtest, most people told me its american propaganda, the prtests are 50 people and not 5000, what i would believe more then what you see on FB. In Zahedan were several shootings and killings around 8 october when i crossed there, but that was about the balooch problem, nothing to do with scarf-protests !!

[bwv812]

The killings in Zahedan happened on September 30th, and it was indeed related to the killing of Mahsa Amini (as well as the rumored rape of a Baluch girl by the police).

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/worl ... kdown.html

[tokoloho]

Hello everybody. Is there somebody else who is/was in Iran the last weeks/days who wants to share some information about his experiences and feelings to the actual situation? We are in Turkey and wanted to go a second time (have been there two months in May/June). We have the visa already. Now we only plan a transit to Bandar Abbas, but aren't sure if this is a good idea. Our feelings say, that if we keep out of big towns it should be OK. Thanks a lot! Michi

[pavsova]

Hi, we have been traveling in Iran for two weeks now. Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Bam, Chabahar and the island of Qeshm and Hormuz. Protests tend to take place in the evening. We no longer move around the city after dark, we are in the hostel. Otherwise, there is nothing to worry about. People are good and often try to save us unnecessarily. We hitchhike and rather sleep in a tent in interesting places. If you will be in the south around Bandar Abbas and on the islands, then there is nothing to worry about. It is a very touristic area and I don't think there are any demonstrations on the islands. But watch out for riots in Bandar Abbas, don't walk around the city in the evening. Pavlina

[tokoloho]

Thank you very much for your opinion Pavlina. Wish you safe travels!