Argo

The first official day of the tour focusses on revolutionary Iran. First stop the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum. Unlike the man himself this does not disappoint. It is a massive gold domed structure with the floor covered with exquisite Persian rugs. In the middle stands a large green lit crypt with the coffin draped in green. It is all opulent and spectacular.

Arrival at the massive Azadi (freedom) monument the cloud rolls in and the rain buckets down. It is a mad scramble to get photos before returning to our bus looking like drowned rats.

A wander through the small and colourful bazaar

Precedes the visit to the former US embassy. The site of the 1975 kidnapping of the American staff and their long detention, it is now a propaganda museum adorned with anti American pictures, posters and graffiti and a shredded American flag flutters at half mast in the forecourt. Inside a young Iranian shows us around a mundane set of rooms, vaults and machinery. The furniture and the technology on show is typical of its time and to me it seems like a fairly reasonable set of equipment for any of the major power embassies particularly in a world hotspot. Anyone who believes that some degree of espionage does not occur in any of these venues is naive. Nothing there screamed out skulduggery to me.

Interestingly the young guide mentioned the movie Argo which depicts the escape and ultimate rescue of 6 embassy staff who flee to and are given refuge by the Canadian Embassy. He acknowleged the veracity of the story line but none of the portrayal of Iranians as violent. As he mentioned the movie I decided to poke the bear and remind him of the psychological torture scenes against the Americans. He denied it and to back it up he showed me pictures from a book with smiling hostages seeing Catholic priests and being offered tasty westeren foods as he described them as guests of Iran. Suffice it to say I leave unconvinced.