Tourism in Iran…

While giving a series of lectures for the Commonwealth Club of California in Iran, I was surprised and delighted by the large number of foreign tourists that we encountered around the country. The last time that I was in Iran (during the presidency of Ahmadinejad), I hardly saw any international tourists. Today, however, tourism in Iran is so popular that there are not enough hotel rooms in some cities to accommodate all of the travelers. It was exciting to see first-hand that Iran, long avoided by tourists, is suddenly a hot destination.