"We just returned from 15 days gorgeous & interesting days in Iran, where I attended an International congress on Clinical Laboratory Quality Improvement (http://www.iqicl.org/). At this congress I presented a paper on "Glycated Albumin" as  home-test for monthly monitoring of diabetes. Iran is a very interesting country undergoing an unusual revolution: a "Theocratic Revolution". There is freedom of religion and there are many synagogues, Christian churches and Zoroastrian temples. According to the Islamic regulations, women must cover their head with a shawl and must also wear an overcoat to cover their bodies up to the knees in addition, there is no alcoholic beverages available in the whole nation & any type of pornography is totally prohibited. There is a "supreme leader" (Ayatollah Khameni) and a parliament with over 300 elected members: 2  Zoroastrian are members of the parliament. There are over 300,000 archeological sites in Iran and there are several tours ranging from ancient Persepolis (near Shiraz, in the South) to the religious sites of Iman Reza in Mashhad, the poetic city of Omar Kayyan, in the East of Iran and the ski resorts north of Tehran, (www.idt.ir)
 
In summary: after attending the Clinical Chemistry congress and  presenting my paper on a new Diabetic marker, we took a 10 day tour over the South and Center of Iran, visiting Persepolis, the Zoroastrian Necropolis in Jazd,  plus the tombs of the emperor Cyrus the Great and Daryus the  Great. We had a private English speaking guide (Mr. Amin) who took us by car all the way from Shiraz to Tehran. In our way we spent 3 days in probably the most beautiful city in Iran, the city of Isfahan (see pictures). Interestingly for visitors,  Iran is a most safe place  and huge amount of tourist visit Iran all year around, but in winter, the Scandinavians go in masses because of the ski resorts in Northern Iran ("Albus mountains"). I took over 800 pictures of this historic country, where tourists feel very, very safe. By the way, the tombs of biblical people like Esther and Mordecai are in Eastern Iran and many American Jews go to Iran to visit these sacred sites, as well as the tomb of king Cyrus the Great, who liberated the ancient Israelites from Babylonian Captivity and that of king Daryus the Great who thanks to Esther and Mordecai  prevented a plot against the Jews orchestrated by his minister Hasan." GEORGE "GIORGIO" BERNETT, PhD