There are many misconceptions about many countries around the world.
Cuba is a tropical paradise.
So is Somalia.
So is a lot of Africa.
So is Sri Lanka and many parts of India.
Iran used to be the French Riviara of the Middle East. Amazing cosmopolotan cities and great country side.
Then along came the Islamic Revolution.
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It constantly amazes me when I see how different things are than my preconceived notions of a particular country or region... many times I am only too glad to be mistaken in my world view!
In all honesty if I saw those pictures and asked to guess where they were I would never guess iran in a million years. I would probably guess netherlands or something like that.
I think the reason people think of Iran as a desert country is because of the media. Whenever you see a picture of Iran on the news or in the papers you just see dry land etc. I dont think I have seen a picture of Iran in the media with even a single blade of grass.
Gorgeous.
You can find varying landscapes & modern cities all over the Middle-Eastern. Jordan (Petra is a MUST SEE), Iraq (at least previously :-/), Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates (the most modern malls in the world, underwater hotels) & Israel all have modern cities & extremely varied biomes
i.e. Israel is a tiny nation, you can drive across it in less than a day but within this tiny mass you will find a 'true desert' in the South (bone dry, 45C in the shade), a humid green region in the North, one of the worlds gorgeous coral reefs, and even a great place to ski (Mt. Hermon)
As for Iran...
A stunning jewel throughout history, and now a modern nation, with many modern, forward thinking people. But well kept lawns don't make for civilized neighbours. It's still ruled by a backwards, blood-thirsty theocracy that is fixated and obsessed with Pan-Islamic Goals. Ahmadijad, like Hitler, makes no secret of his evil aims (it's not perception/interpretation but the words that come out of his mouth!)
Alas, with all the talk of reform & the powerful Persian Street there is little real change. Foreigners are killed (Canada's Kazemi most recent example), dissidents jailed, tortured, murdered (I have an aquintance who has the burn marks to prove it), blatant racism & insane sexism (married women beware)
Alittle off topic, point being photos are as close as you will get to these gorgeous locations... The Islamo-Supremicist rule mean very few foreigners and very few common Persians get to enjoy everything Iran has to offer (its not media bias that creates misconceptions, its lack of access & freedom)
I knew we could agree on something.
Cheers (though I wouldn't go so far as to call Somalia a tropical paradise. Not enough rain)
That's because that is how the media wants you to see them. It is the same for them when they see pictures of the U.S. and it's people. Could you imagine if the media portrayed everything accurately?
Right now you see a picture of Iran and you see dirt, poor people and Islamic revolutionaries. That is not all that is there but that is all many people think that exists there.
See my comment in the longer post above, it has nothing to do with media bias (except maybe for the fact that 5 minute snippets are not enough to communicate the whole picture on ANYTHING). This notion that the 'media' is somehow this unified entity with a hidden agenda is patently untrue, esp. if you are talking about the media of the free-world. You can go into any convenience store in the USA, UK, Canada, Israel, Holland and find ABSOLUTELY OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS on just about every issue of the day.
As for Iran's media - that's a different story all together, despite SOME diversity, you'll find unified themes of THE GREAT SATAN, and HOOK NOSED JEW throughout.
As for 'dirt, poor people and Islamic revolutionaries'
They exist, the exist, they exist. Except there aren't that many Islamic Revolutionaries and a whole bunch Pan-Islamic-Psychopaths. This is what you see because this is what is RELEVANT TO THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WATCHING THE NEWS IN THIS NATION. Yes, Iran is a modern nation, and its young population shows more promise for civilized forward-thinking of any of its neighbours, however - they are yet to prove relevant to overall world view. The fact of the matter is THEY DON'T HAVE A REAL VOICE. If they were to rise up and bring down Ahmadijad & his Mullah Overlords murderous reign, end his apolcolypse talk, bring in freedom, end the attrocious racism & sexism that is blatantly apparent - then they'd get the attention they so deserve. And if they did this, the floodgates of tourism would open - and then people worldwide would be able to experience Iran's beauty for themselves. Until then, these gorgeous views are just pictures on a computer screen - inaccessible, unreal.
I knew it was more than desert, but I myself have never been there so never had an idea in my head. Thanks for the enlightenment!
No problem 
