ran e-Visa (Iran electronic visa) has launched by the Ministry of foreign Affairs – Islamic Republic of IRAN to make it easier to apply for an Iran tourist visa online.

Citizens of over 180 countries are eligible to use the Iran electronic visa. The United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Jordan, Somalia, Colombia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India are excluded.

Based on mutual agreements, citizens of some countries are exempt from applying for a visa to enter Iran. They include the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Georgia, Armenia, Venezuela, Egypt and Malaysia.

Iran E visa (Iran electronic visa): How Does It Operate?

According to the information provided by Iran MFA, applying for an Iran e Visa is easy and takes only a few minutes. Applicants will have to go to the address www.e_visa.mfa.ir/en to make their online application.

Visa applicants must submit a completed Online Non-immigrant Visa Application for all non-immigrant visa categories, including applicants applying for Entry, Tourist, Work, Treatment, Press, Student, Family, and Investment visas.

Once the Application is submitted to Iran E visa Department, consular Officers use the information entered on the application to process the visa application and, may be combined with a personal interview, determine an applicant’s eligibility for a non-immigrant visa.

Iran Online Visa: Important Notice

  • Take care to answer all questions on the electronic visa application form accurately and completely; otherwise, you may have to reapply your application and reschedule your visa interview appointment.
  • Electronically submitting your online application is only the first step in the visa application process. Once you have electronically submitted your online visa application, you must contact the embassy or consulate at which you wish to apply to confirm whether you need to be interviewed by an officer, and to schedule an interview.
  • You can find a list of Islamic Republic of IRAN embassies and consulates on ministry of foreign affairs website. If the embassy or consulate at which you apply informs that you must have a visa interview, the visa application process cannot be completed until you appear for an interview with a consular officer.

Things that you should know before applying for Iran e-visa (Iran electronic visa):

  • Persons who may have dual nationality should announce their nationality based on the travel documents/passport that they wish to carry.
  • In case nationality printed on visa is incompatible with nationality printed on passport, visa will be null and void.
  • An applicant may not be granted Iran visa unless his/her passport is valid for at least six months.
  • Please make sure the photo you wish to upload meets all the requirements.

Ask Kalout for visa authorization letter

Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application

 

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To alleviate tourists’ concerns over US sanctions on individuals visiting Iran, Passports of travellers entering Iran will not being stamped.

The initiative is a direct countermeasure to a travel restriction put in place by the US after Trump issued an order in March 2017, restricting travel to the US for those who have visited Iran, in addition to Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

 

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Visa authorisation letter stamped at the Tehran International Airport.

 

It was implemented from the first day of the second half of the Iranian year on Sept. 23, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said, adding that the measure has been communicated to all representative offices of the Islamic Republic abroad as well as domestic airports.

The initiative, which was previously piloted in Iran’s offices in Doha, Muscat and across the Imam Khomeini (Tehran), Mashhad and Shiraz international airports, is part of a bigger support package to stave off the detrimental effects of US sanctions as well as the ongoing currency crisis facing the country’s tourism sector.

A note at the Iranian Embassy in Germany emphasizes that from September 23, 2018 passports of travellers entering Iran will not being stamped.

 

Foreign tourists from neighboring countries that have common land borders with Iran, including Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, as well as those from the US, the UK, Canada, Jordan, Colombia, Bangladesh and Somalia, are not part of the new initiative, meaning that their passports will be stamped.

 

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Cyrus II, known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of Achaemenid dynasty. His maternal grandfather was Astyages, the last king of the Medes, and his paternal grandfather was Achaemenes, the first founder of hereditary rule among the Persians.

Cyrus presented a new empire based on morality, justice, and decency to the world. Unlike the previous emperors, he treated the defeated with compassion, enemies with tolerance, and those with opposing beliefs and customs with liberality. His statement in Babylon, written on a clay cylinder, is the first draft of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The followings are three sites worth exploring to learn more about the rise and fall of Achaemenids. You can leave Shiraz for a one-day tour to visit these spectacular sites and then come back.

Pasargadae: This Is Where Achaemenids Rose to Power

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Tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae, Iran

 

It was the dynastic capital of Achaemenid Empire, the first great multicultural empire in western Asia. Today, it’s located near Shiraz in Fars province, south western Iran. It’s where Cyrus the Great conquered Astyages, the last Median king, in his last battle, and then founded the first Persian Empire in the same region and beyond. He founded Pasargadae and constructed palaces in memory of his victory. It was the rise of Achaemenids and Cyrus the Great was the author of Achaemenid dynasty. His tomb is also here in this city.

According to UNESCO, “palaces, gardens, and tomb of Cyrus are outstanding examples of the first phase of royal Achaemenid art and architecture, and exceptional testimonies of Persian civilization”.

A brief description of the site

The tomb of Cyrus has long been a focal point for visitors to Pasargadae and the palace area lay almost a kilometer north of it. This area included a palace to receive audiences and a whole series of adjacent gardens. They emerged to be the first Persian gardens. Unfortunately, all that has remained from Achaemenid era in this region are stone foundations and some wall socles.

In this site, the columned hall is the most common form of design. A notable architectural point about this hall was making use of stone-working techniques. It’s notable because all the previous columned halls in Iranian plateau were built in mud-brick walls and wooden columns.

Such an innovation facilitated the production of stone platforms, staircase, floors, and stone columns. Each one of these structures was to become a hallmark of architecture in Achaemenid era from about 540 BCE onward.

The gardens at Pasargadae would appear to be the first known occurrence of chaharbagh or fourfold garden, a specific articulation of space. It went on to become a distinctive characteristic of later garden designs in Iran for centuries.

Pasargadae kept its importance to Achaemenid emperors, but during the reign of the next kings, the capital moved to other cities.

Persepolis: The Glorious Times of Achaemenids

 

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Gate of All Nations at Persepolis, Achaemenid Era

 

It’s the other dynastic center of Achaemenid kings located about 60 kilometers south of Pasargadae. After Cyrus the Great, Darius I, known as Darius the Great, succeeded in ruling the Persian Empire. He started the construction of Persepolis. It consists of ceremonial palaces, provisional residential palaces, a treasury, and a chain of fortification. It was built as a ceremonial palace complex mainly for celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year festival.

The gate to the site was from the south, through a staircase. To the right of this entrance, you can see a huge rectangular block bearing four cuneiform inscriptions in the name of Darius the Great: Two in Old Persian, one in Elamite, and the fourth in Babylonian. These scripts were clearly meant to inform visitors of the nature of Persepolis, the people who contributed to its construction as well as Darius’ beliefs and ideals.

The remarkable parts of the palace complex consist of:

  • The Gate of All Nations.

It was a four-columned square hall with three stone doorways. Two enormous winged bulls are carved at the inner side of eastern as well as western doorways, and the gates are decorated in the upper part with six cuneiform inscription sections.

  • The audience palace of Darius, The Apadana

The double-reversed stairways of this palace are the most splendid parts of Persepolis

  • The Palace of Darius known, the Tachara.

A charming structure which is the oldest palace of Persepolis. Here, you can find three different scripts carved in various historical periods: one in cuneiform from Achaemenid era, one in Pahlavi from Sassanid era, and one in modern Persian from Qajar era.

  • The Palace of Xerxes, the Hadish

It was the Xerxes’ temporary residence.

  • The Central Palace, the Tripylon

A small but lavishly ornamented structure located in the center of the complex. Three doorways and a couple of corridors and staircases were linked to the other palaces. It must be attributed to Xerxes and Artaxerxes I.

  • The second largest palace of Persepolis, The Hundred Column Hall

Its main feature was a square hall provided with ten rows of ten columns. It was an audience hall.

These structures were built by Darius the Great and his successors, Xerxes and Artaxerxes I, and maintained until 330 BCE, when they were looted and burnt by Alexander of Macedonia. Although today you can see only the remains of this complex, its magnificence can still impress you.

Darius the Great was a powerful and sage emperor in the ancient world. His territory was so extended that there were no such imperial expansion until then and long after.

Naqsh-e-Rostam, Mighty Emperors Have Rested Here

Naqsh-e-Rostam

Naqsh-e Rostam, Achaemenids’ Necropolis near Shiraz, Iran

 

It’s one of the most spectacular ancient sites of Achaemenid era dating back to the times when the fall of Achaemenids was about to happen. It’s located almost 5 kilometers northwest of Persepolis, and consists of the colossal rock tombs of Persian kings dating back to the first millennium BC. Here you can see the best ancient rock reliefs in Iran from both the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods.

The rock-cut tombs of Achaemenid rulers and their families dating back to the 5th, 4th, and 3rd centuries BC have been engraved on the façade of a mountain. The tombs belong to Darius the Great, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II. In addition to being a royal necropolis, Naqsh-e-Rostam was a major ceremonial center for the Sasanians until the 7th century AD.

I highly suggest you to put these three spectacular Achaemenid sites in your checklist for travelling to Iran. It takes just one day to visit them all and learn about the rise and fall of Achaemenids. I promise there will be so many amazing things that can cause your admiration.

 

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cycling-in-Iran

Don’t believe what people tell you about Iran

Iran was undoubtedly the most surprising country for positive experiences. After months of being told that I would be killed there, and the media reporting that it’s a country full of terrorists, I was humbled to enter a country of incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and kind people. I shared many nights in the houses of strangers and wouldn’t be allowed to leave in the morning without having my bags filled with food and gifts. They have many problems of their own in Iran, and are also aware of how the Western media portrays then, yet they still took it upon themselves to help me as best they could.

The beauty of travel by bike is how slow it is, and how it offers intimate view of the lives of strangers. I cycled between 60 and 80 miles a day, occasionally much more, sometimes much less due to weather, altitude or people I would meet on the way. It’s been hard, but the experiences it has given me sure beats working in an office. My freedom and lack of deadlines or destinations led to aimless wandering, mainly guided by the avoidance of bad weather systems and fitting around the seasons. All I really knew was that I wanted to circumnavigate the world and that I was doing that in an easterly direction.

Whenever I struggled to motivate myself to continue, it was the strangers I met on the road that helped me carry on. I’ve lost count of the favors I’ve been granted and the times I’ve been offered assistance. Wherever I went, human goodness shone through.

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Glorious Day for Historical City of Yazd   

Marco Polo described Yazd as “a good and noble city” with “a great amount of trade”. This noble city now stands a chance to become another UNESCO cultural and architectural site in Iran.

THE 40th UNESCO World Heritage Committee begins to review 34 global nominations in Krakow, Poland, including Iran’s candidate, the historical texture of Yazd. The 21 members of the committee are to discuss the tentative list from all corners of the world in 10 days to reach a verdict which to some are really important such as the Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan, Historic Centre of Vienna, Austria, Cerrado ecoregion in Brazil.

It has been 9 years since the registration of Historic city of Yazd in the tentative list; however, due to several ill-matched and uncommon constructions which unbalance the historical texture of Yazd, it is still on a lengthy waiting list of Iran. The UNESCO International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) finds a number of defects in the texture of the city which look somewhat incongruous to the homogeneous clay structure of the area. According to the World Heritage Site website “The historical structure of Yazd is a collection of public-religious architecture in a very large scope comprising of different Islamic architectural elements of different periods in a harmonious combination with climatic conditions.”

For the past two years, Iranian officials of the Cultural Heritage Organization cooperating with the locals and authorities of Yazd by arranging and conducting workshops and meetings, has been doing its best to pave the way for the 22nd UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iran and today finally Yazd joined in the World Heritage List of Iran.

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ateshooni-guesthouse

 Ateshooni

In the heart of desert there is a village called Garmeh, near the border of Isfahan & Yazd provinces.
The founder of this house is Maziar who is one of the first people to convert his house to an eco-lodge.
During your stay there, you’ll enjoy the unique sound of didgeridoo & percussion that Maziar plays.

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Aghamir Cottage

Aghamir Cottage

Agha Mir is a 100-year-old house in Sadat-shahr , Fars province. Agha Mir is the founder of Astro tourism in Iran & supports the environment, planting trees & specially the Pasargadae Brown Bear.
The food is organic & traditional; and they try to keep the culture & customs alive.
Beside the Astrology & eco tours, there is Nomad tour too…

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Flooring-fel

GileBoom

GileBoom is an old traditional house located in the east of Gilan province, in the heart of jungle & it’s near the Caspian Sea.

In this house local people show you their crafts, serve their food, invite you to their ceremonies & take you to the deepest in their culture.

 

 

 

 

 

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Turkmen Eco lodge

Turkmen Eco lodge

The Eco lodge is a place for nature lovers, responsible tourists and a base for scientific researchers.it provides tourists with opportunities to be in close contact with nature.
It was started in 2009 with an aim of supporting The Golestan National Park programs and helping local communities around this National Park which is a biosphere reserve too.
Turkmen Eco lodge has a first-of- its-kind cooperative agreement with a National Park authority in Iran.
We offer educational and participatory experience through
• Wildlife tour             • Trekking                  • Eco-safari
• Hiking                        • Rural museum       • Kids Eco camp

 

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Yazd

With a history of 5,000 years, and possessing a shining heritage of an ancient culture and civilization during different ages, Yazd is a glorious ancient city in the heart of Persian history located 270 km (170 mi) southeast of Esfahan. According to some historians, the original foundation of Yazd belongs to Alexander the Great who ordered the constructing of a prison, after his conquest in 331 B.C. On the other hand, some historians believe that the name was derived from “Yazdangerd” belonging to Yazdgerd I (339-421 A.D) in the Sassanid era. Literally, “Yazd” means “holy, auspicious and worship-worthy.” Greek historians have called it “Isatis” which had been founded after ruining the ancient city of “Katteh”. After the appearance of Islam, the name of the city changed to “Darol’ebadeh” which means “place of praying”.

This area has been counted among the important passages periods throughout history. Fortunately, because of its climatic features, it remained safe from violations and wars during Iran’s critical period particularly during the Mongols invasion. Moreover, arduous road and shortage of water sources have been major hindrances of conquering it by any inside and outside invaders. Yet, Yazd could be considered a rich city of all times hosting signs of Mithraism, Zoroastrianism and Islam in every corner.

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