Practical Information for visiting Iran

This is the most important practical fact about visiting Iran: no foreign bank card works anywhere in the country. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and foreign ATMs are all unusable because of sanctions. Bring every rial you will spend, in cash, as euros or US dollars, and bring more than you think you need.

The currency is the rial (IRR), but Iranians quote prices in tomans, worth ten rials, with the zero dropped. Confirm which unit a price is in every time; the confusion is constant and costs visitors money.

Change money at licensed exchange offices in the cities, not at the airport or at hotels, where rates are far worse. The gap between the official and open-market rate is large.

Prepaid tourist debit cards, loaded with cash on arrival and usable in shops, are offered by several agencies and solve the problem of carrying large amounts.

Bargaining is expected in bazaars. Tipping is modest and appreciated.

Coverage for mobile networks is good across the country, including in the desert and along the main roads, with 4G widely available. Local SIMs from Irancell and Hamrah-e Aval are cheap and sold at the airport with a passport.

The internet is heavily filtered. Many international sites and services are blocked, and most Iranians use a VPN as a matter of routine. Install one before you arrive, since the download sites themselves are often blocked from inside the country.

Access has been throttled or shut down nationally during periods of unrest, sometimes for days. Do not plan on being reliably contactable, and agree a check-in schedule with people at home rather than assuming constant contact.

Wi-Fi is common in hotels and cafes and subject to the same filtering. Download maps, translations and documents before travelling.

The British government advises against all travel to the whole of Iran, and the reasons are political, legal and military rather than criminal. Ordinary street crime is low; that has never been the issue here.

The conflict is live. The memorandum of understanding the United States and Iran signed on 17 June 2026 broke down on 8 July, when the US struck Iran after Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and lapsed altogether in mid-August. The US and Israel have struck infrastructure across the country: ports, roads, railways, bridges, energy and oil facilities, water systems and airports are all reported hit. Airspace, ports and land borders can close at short notice, and internet access is restricted.

There is no dependable way out, which is the practical form the risk takes. US sanctions brought every remaining Iranian carrier under designation on 8 September 2026 and 80 to 90 per cent of international flights stopped; Turkish Airlines is suspended until March 2027, with Qatar Airways, Emirates and Lufthansa also out. Traffic has moved to the land borders, mainly Bazargan and Razi for Türkiye and the road to Yerevan. Most crossings need paperwork arranged through your own embassy before you reach them; Astara is closed and the Iraqi border normally is too.

Internally, 2026 opened with the heaviest crackdown in the Islamic Republic's history. Nationwide protests over the economy began on 30 December 2025 and reached more than a hundred cities. Security forces used live ammunition from the start, raided hospitals to arrest the wounded, and cut the national internet from 8 January — a blackout that persisted in some form into late May, and much of the reason the death toll is so fiercely disputed. The government's own figure is 3,117; the monitor HRANA has published a named list of 7,007; the UN Special Rapporteur and several newspapers put it in the tens of thousands. More than 18,000 arrests followed within a fortnight, then capital charges and executions. Smaller waves resumed in February, and Global Affairs Canada's current assessment is that renewed demonstrations, and a violent response to them, remain possible.

Arbitrary detention is the central risk, and it does not require you to have done anything. The FCDO's wording is that holding a British passport, or having perceived connections to the UK, can be reason enough to be detained — and that the risk stays very high for someone who avoids protests and crowds entirely. Detention means months or years; in 2023 Iran executed several foreign national detainees, including a British-Iranian. It is worse again for anyone who has worked with civil society organisations, done academic or think-tank work on Iran, written journalism, posted about Iranian politics (liking and sharing count), or has any link, current or historical, to the United States government or to Israel.

Dual nationals are the most exposed group. Iran does not recognise the second nationality, so a detained dual national's other government is neither notified nor granted access, and officials may require them to leave on an Iranian passport and then refuse them exit — a situation Canada states plainly that it cannot intervene in. Several countries have no embassy in Tehran at all, and the UK's advice is that no face-to-face consular assistance will be possible in an emergency and that it could not evacuate you.

Photography and geography. Military sites, government buildings, airports and infrastructure must not be photographed, accidentally included in a frame, or posted, and since the strikes, images of military activity or of damage carry severe penalties of their own. The FCDO advises even British residents of Iran against all travel within 100km of the Afghan border, within 10km of the entire Iraqi border, to Sistan and Baluchestan, and to the area east of Bam and Jask including Bam itself; Zahedan, Zabol and Mirjaveh are named as particularly insecure, and foreign nationals have been kidnapped there and in Khuzestan.

The older risks have not gone away. Suicide bombings in Kerman in January 2024 killed at least 84 people and wounded more than 200, and the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz was attacked in 2022, killing 15, and again in 2023. Road traffic, meanwhile, remains the commonest ordinary danger in Iran, with a death rate among the world's higher ones; use buses and trains rather than driving yourself.

Medical care in the cities is of a reasonable standard and inexpensive, and Iran trains a large number of doctors. Sanctions have, however, caused genuine shortages of some imported medicines and equipment.

Travel insurance is required for entry and must be valid for Iran — many standard policies exclude it, and Iranian insurance is sold at the airport if yours does not qualify. Note that insurers may not be able to pay providers directly because of sanctions, so bring cash for medical costs.

Vaccinations: routine cover plus hepatitis A and typhoid. Malaria is a small risk in the far south-east in summer only.

Bring all your own prescription medication in sufficient quantity and original packaging with a doctor’s letter. Do not assume anything will be available.

Heat and altitude are the seasonal issues: 45°C in the south and desert in summer, and Tehran and the plateau cities sitting high enough that some visitors notice it.

Tap water is treated and generally safe in the cities; bottled water is standard in rural areas.

Dress is a legal matter, not a courtesy. Women must cover their hair with a headscarf in public and wear loose clothing covering arms and legs; men must not wear shorts. Enforcement has varied in recent years and remains a contested issue inside the country, but the law stands and visitors are expected to follow it.

Alcohol is illegal for everyone, with real penalties. Do not bring any in.

Unrelated men and women should not show physical affection in public; handshakes between the sexes are often avoided, so let the other person offer first.

Taarof means offers are made that are not meant to be accepted immediately. Decline twice before accepting, and when a driver or shopkeeper refuses payment, insist.

Photography of people requires permission, especially women, and of military or government sites is prohibited.

Do not discuss politics or religion unless an Iranian opens the subject, and never in a way that could be recorded or attributed. The risk falls on them rather than on you. Homosexuality is criminalised and carries severe penalties.

Emergency numbers: 110 for police, 115 for ambulance, 125 for fire. English is not guaranteed; your hotel or guide will usually be faster.

Medical. Private hospitals in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan are the better option and are inexpensive by Western standards. Payment is in cash, since foreign insurance cannot generally settle directly.

Consular. Establish before travelling whether your country has an embassy in Tehran and what it can actually do — several do not, and some are represented by a third country. Dual nationals should assume consular access will not be granted.

Communication. Agree a check-in schedule with someone at home, given that internet access can be cut without warning. Leave a copy of your itinerary outside the country.

Keep offline copies of your passport, visa and insurance, and enough cash in euros or dollars to change at short notice.