The Islamic Republic has agreed to allow an American private company to bring a trainload of tourists into Iran this fall in what could be the beginning of a regular tourist service.
The new Rohani Administration is hoping to develop tourism into a major source of income for the country.
The tour will be run by MIR Corporation, a Seattle-based tourism company that began organizing tours to the Soviet Union when that country was hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Mir means “peace” in Russian.
The company has until now confined itself exclusively to tours of the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China, so the trip to Iran will be a new experience but in keeping with its mission of tourism to countries Westerners often find hostile.
The train will leave from Budapest and run through Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey into Iran.
Named “Jewels of Persian,” the 15-day tour actually spends the first nine days in the Eastern Europe and Turkey and the last six in Iran. The stops in Iran are: the mausoleum of Soltanieh in Zanjan; the fire temple at Yazd; Esfahan, Shiraz; Persepolis; and ending at Tehran. Another tour runs in reverse starting in Tehran.
MIR is only scheduling one eastbound and one westbound tour at this time, the eastbound trip leaving Budapest October 14 and the westbound trip leaving Tehran October 27. Tickets start at $13,000 per person.