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>> there are large parts of the country [Iran] that are dangerous for outsiders. Are you kidding me? Have you seen the Rick Steve's special on Iran? I'm bringi

>> there are large parts of the country [Iran] that are dangerous for outsiders. Are you kidding me? Have you seen the Rick Steve's special on Iran? I'm bringing RS up because anecdotal evidence wouldn't fly much around here. But please open your mind and take a look. Every account I've read of travel in Iran has been very positive. It is a much safer country to travel in than, say, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc.

astrodust 13y ago
Probably safer than some parts of Oakland and Washington D.C., too.
- mpyne 13y ago
  DC is actually fairly safe nowadays (except perhaps for Northeast or Anacostia, but no one is going to end up there by accident).
  - astrodust 13y ago
    Relative to historical periods, yes, but it's still a war-zone compared to what I'm used to. The 2010 statistics indicate a homicide rate of 21.9 per 100,000 population. That's as bad as Brazil, worse than Kenya, and slightly worse than The Democratic Republic of Congo. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona..., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C.). For perspective, the city I live in has a murder rate of 1.9, only slightly higher than the national average.
    - true_religion 13y ago
      You can't really compare cities to entire countries unless those countries are city-sized. For example, while Brazil has a per capita homicide rate of ~23 per 100,000 the state of Alagoas has a homicide rate of 60.3, and the Federal District has one of 34.1. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Brazilian_states_by_murder_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Brazilian_states_by_mur...
      - astrodust 13y ago
        Some of those countries aren't all that big. Dominica is about on par with Washington D.C. and has a population 1/10th the size in an area only a few times bigger. Sure, parts of Brazil are a war-zone, as are parts of Mexico in the bitter battle over drugs, but that just skews the average up for the rest of the country, meaning Washington D.C. is worse than many parts of Brazil. To start splitting hairs, I bet there's parts of Washington D.C. that are on par with the worst parts of Brazil.
phaus 13y ago
Every account? I guess you missed the part where a former Marine of Iranian descent was arrested for trying to visit his grandmother. Or the part where a few kids went hiking on the Iranian border and were convicted of espionage. Sure the Marine probably should have known better than to visit Iran having a government background, but if it was really a nice place to visit, shit like that wouldn't happen.

astrodust 13y ago

Probably safer than some parts of Oakland and Washington D.C., too.

mpyne 13y ago
DC is actually fairly safe nowadays (except perhaps for Northeast or Anacostia, but no one is going to end up there by accident).
- astrodust 13y ago
  Relative to historical periods, yes, but it's still a war-zone compared to what I'm used to. The 2010 statistics indicate a homicide rate of 21.9 per 100,000 population. That's as bad as Brazil, worse than Kenya, and slightly worse than The Democratic Republic of Congo. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona..., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C.). For perspective, the city I live in has a murder rate of 1.9, only slightly higher than the national average.
  - true_religion 13y ago
    You can't really compare cities to entire countries unless those countries are city-sized. For example, while Brazil has a per capita homicide rate of ~23 per 100,000 the state of Alagoas has a homicide rate of 60.3, and the Federal District has one of 34.1. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Brazilian_states_by_murder_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Brazilian_states_by_mur...
    - astrodust 13y ago
      Some of those countries aren't all that big. Dominica is about on par with Washington D.C. and has a population 1/10th the size in an area only a few times bigger. Sure, parts of Brazil are a war-zone, as are parts of Mexico in the bitter battle over drugs, but that just skews the average up for the rest of the country, meaning Washington D.C. is worse than many parts of Brazil. To start splitting hairs, I bet there's parts of Washington D.C. that are on par with the worst parts of Brazil.

phaus 13y ago

Every account? I guess you missed the part where a former Marine of Iranian descent was arrested for trying to visit his grandmother. Or the part where a few kids went hiking on the Iranian border and were convicted of espionage. Sure the Marine probably should have known better than to visit Iran having a government background, but if it was really a nice place to visit, shit like that wouldn't happen.