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I know this is a very late reply... but for the benefit of those who read this page... let me answer the question posed by blackdog.

Who issued him a visa to enter Iran? Who knows what current state department rules are on travel to Iran by American Citizens?

Thankfully we are still living in a country where it's citizens are allowed to choose for themselves which countries they want to visit. The American government does not get to decide where it's citizens can visit. The state department does have a web site with details on every country and recommendations on whether citizens are advised to go there. But... that is it.

Any American citizen can apply for a travel visa to Iran. They do that by filling out a form and submitting it to the Iranian Interest Section of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, DC. The visa applications are forwarded to Iran and people within that Government decide whether a visa will be granted.

Now the CIA may have a way to intercept such communications and figure out which of it's citizens are attempting to travel to Iran... however there is no "direct" way that I know of they (the government) will find out (at least before you go).

When you come back into the county and go through immigration the immigration control agent may check your passport and see the entry stamp to Iran that is in your passport. It is also on your customs declaration form (where you must state the countries you have travelled to prior to returning to the USA).

When I travelled to Iran myself last year it was very easy to obtain a visa (I did not declare that I was going as a journalist... so I suspect that helped).

I had no problems at all re-entering the USA and I was not subjected to any sort of cavity searches when I declared where I had been.

Long may that be the case!!!