A valid passport and visa are required for travel through Iran. In 2006 the rules for obtaining a tourist visa changed and it has become much easier for nationals of many countries to get in to Iran by obtaining a visa at the airport. Visa are issued at the Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad airports in Tehran, and also the airports at Mashad, Shiraz, Tabriz and Isfahan. The visa is valid for up to one week and costs US$50. You will receive the forms on arrival. You are advised to bring passport photos with you. However, in many cases they are not collected. Visas are only issued at the airport for holders of ordinary passports from the states below:

Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark,Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam.

It is generally not possible to get an extension for the one week visa. There is a large stamp on it which specifically states "non-extendable". If you wish to stay for longer than a week, or you are not resident of one of the countries listed above, you will need to apply for a Tourist Visa before you arrive in Iran.

Although it has become easier to get a Tourist Visa in recent years, whether the process takes one day or one month depends largely on your nationality and the staff of the embassy you are applying to. Your best bet is to apply to the Iranian embassy in your own country at least three months before your departure, but it is possible in other countries. Women need to make sure they are the wearing the Hijab or a head scarf in their submitted passport-sized photos. US citizens can apply for a visa at the Iranian Interest Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, DC. Transit visas are usually easier to get than tourist visas (usually for one or two weeks) and very useful for people traveling between Europe and South Asia.

Chances are your bags won't be searched for salacious material, but if found, it will be confiscated and will complicate your arrival. Don't try to bring in any magazines or books that might offend strict Islamic sensibilities or criticise the government. This has become much more loose in recent years.

By plane :
Most overseas travellers from Europe will arrive at Mehrabad airport in Tehran. By now most flights from the Middle East, Central and South Asia land at the new Imam Khomeini International Airport based 37km southwest of Tehran and it is planned to move all international flights to this airport within the next few years. There are 70 smaller regional airports, for example those in Shiraz, Mashhad, and Isfahan, and these have daily flights to many international destinations.

Dubai has scheduled flights to many Iranian cities, including Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kerman, Lar, Mashhad, Tabriz, Kish Island, Bandar Abbas, Bushher, Zahedan, and is therefore worth considering travelling to Iran from. Flights are operated by Emirates (for Tehran), Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Mahan Air and other Iranian companies. Fares are relatively cheap on Iranian carriers, ranging from $100 to $250 for a return trip depending on your destination and time of booking.

Iran Air connects Tehran with some of the major European cities as well as destinations in Asia and Middle East. European companies landing in Tehran include British Airways, Lufthansa, KLM, Alitalia, Turkish Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Aeroflot and Air France.Here are some of the Middle-Eastern airlines:Saudi Arabian Airlines,Emirates,Syrian Airlines and Egypt Air.So finding a flight to Iran should not be hard.

There are no direct flights from U.S.A at present, but you could travel via either Europe or Dubai. Visitors from Australia or New Zealand should consider travelling via Dubai.


By rail :
International passenger trains for Iran run weekly to/from Istanbul (Turkey) and Damascus (Syria).

**The Istanbul service runs via Ankara, includes a ferry over Lake Van, crosses the Iranian border then stops at Tabriz before arriving in Tehran. The journey takes 69 hours (3 nights travelling). Services leave Istanbul Wednesday evening (arriving Saturday evening) and Tehran Thursday evening (arriving Sunday evening). The train includes couchettes and a dining car.
**The Syria service does not cross Iraq, stopping at Aleppo before crossing the Turkish border, heading to Lake Van and running along a similar route to the Istanbul service. This journey takes 54 hours (2 nights travelling) leaving Damascus Monday mornings (arriving Tehran Wednesday evening) and leaving Tehran at the same time (Monday) with corresponding arrival in Damascus (Wednesday evening). Couchettes are available between Lake Van and Tehran, but the Syrian leg between Damascus and Lake Van contains only reclining seats. A dining car is only occasionally provided.
**The Quetta-Zahedan line connects Pakistan and Iran by rail. There is no connection of Zahedan railway with the rest of the Iranian Railway system, this means that you must take bus or other transportation from Zahedan to Bam which has railway. The railway from Bam (Kerman) is beeing expanded to reach Zahedan and will probably be finished in 2009. A train leaves every 1th and 15th of each month from Quetta to Zahedan and the journey takes 11 hours and costs about €8.

By car :
Many people drive to Iran via Turkey, in the absence of cheap flights.

By bus :
**You can find Seir-o-Safar agencies in Istanbul, Antalya and Ankara to buy cheap bus tickets for Tehran.
**You can also (depending on the political situation) enter from Pakistan via the border crossing between Taftan (on the Pakistani side) and Zahedan (on the Iranian side)as long as you have a valid visa for Iran. You can NOT get a visa on the border. Overnight buses leave from Quetta arriving in Taftan in the early morning, from there you can either hire a taxi to the border or walk a couple of kilometers. Once across the border (which can take some time on the Iranian side, you need to organise transport to Zahedan (the local town) where buses depart for destinations in Eastern Iran such as Bam, Kerman and Yazd. See the Istanbul to New Delhi over land 3.9 Iran-Pakistan border, for more details on the crossing.
**It is rumoured that certain "less than official" Iranian groups are offering a "Bus" service from Iraq (these buses are likely to be trucks).

By boat :
There are some scheduled services from Baku to Bandar Anzali on the Caspian Sea and from cities on the Persian Gulf to cities on the Iranian coast. They are usually of low quality.