(Credits: Far Out / The White House / Omid Armin)
Sat 21 February 2026 23:30, UK
With a growing US military in the region and continued noise about an escalation between America and Iran, it feels like a case of when, not if, President Donald Trump will kickstart an attack on Tehran.
As well as threats from the head of state, there are also internal issues within the country, as protests continue to grow against the regime, suggesting something seismic is on the horizon that could alter the face of the country.
The Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, leads the Islamic Republic, a nation that has strained relationships with the West, a complicated relationship with their own people, particularly those who criticise the regime, and is under harsh sanctions. With change a real possibility, the question then moves to what Iran will look like in a post-Donald Trump world, and how that will impact tourism in the region.
Right now, Iran is a place that is off the list of tourist destinations, with the UK Foreign Office advising against all travel to the country, as well as the majority of other Western countries, and a good chunk of the wider world. It’s a place that has seen Britons arrested on trumped-up espionage charges, and has a reputation for being a difficult place to travel within, but it wasn’t always like this.
Prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the country was markedly different under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with the country seeing rapid modernisation, both in terms of technology, social change and more, marking it one of the most accessible, safest, modern and culturally rich places to travel in the Middle East. It was a country that saw plenty of Western visitors, who were drawn to its juxtaposition of modern infrastructure alongside some of the planet’s oldest inhabited cities.
(Credits: Sajad Nori)
Before becoming an international pariah, this was a country that marketed itself abroad, with the national carrier Iran Air expanding routes to Europe and North America, and you’d even see package tours to the country at travel agencies in the West. In the two decades before the revolution, guidebooks declared it safe and warm and welcoming to foreigners, and Tehran carried the reputation of having the best nightlife in the Middle East, with booze flowing and women given free rein to wear what they wanted, such that even mini-skirts were popular at the time. It’s said that English was freely spoken in the tourist parts of the country, and you could even watch American movies at the cinema.
While Iran was part of the ‘Hippie Trail’ that followed the Silk Road, it wasn’t just backpackers visiting but also people interested in all facets of the country, with the Shah heavily promoting the ancient history of Persia as a key reason to visit. Looking at pictures of 1960s and ’70s Tehran versus now, the former barely feels real. Wide, almost European-style boulevards, reminiscent of Paris, and big international hotel chains such as The Hilton and InterContinental, crowding the skyline, the country acted as a gateway for Westerners to learn about the Arab world and explore its history and beautiful mosques.
Moreover, it wasn’t just Tehran, but Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, which was as beautiful and jaw-dropping as anything in Athens, while Isfahan is widely regarded as one of, if not the best city, in the Islamic world, thanks to its huge squares and bottle-blue mosques. Then you’d even have the wider Silk Road towns, like Yazd, that gave visitors a glimpse at the crossing point where East met West.
Post the revolution, visitor numbers declined, and the outward-facing, open, modern country reverted to a fundamentalist one, and while the kindness of the people, and the incredible history and culture didn’t disappear, the frameworks did, and the way in which outsiders engaged with the country too. History always repeats itself, and we’ve seen regime changes impact tourism many times before, such that when the Soviet Union fell, it inspired a generation to look behind the Iron Curtain and experience the country for themselves. Likewise, after the recent US intervention in Venezuela, there was talk in the White House about increasing tourism in the country.
Whatever happens in Iran over the coming weeks, months and years, the most important thing is that the people of the country are safe and get to live the lives they want and deserve. What happens next is up to them, but don’t be surprised if a new Iran opens its doors to tourism in the near future, and with its vast history, diverse cuisine and thriving culture, it could roll back the years and become a trending travel destination once again.