Free Republic

Tehran's standoff with west sees tourists snub Persian treasuresIndustry faces collapse as tension grows over nuclear issue and sailors' detention Robert Tait in Tehran, The Guardian Thursday April 12 2007 Siosepol Bridge in the ancient city of Isfahan. Iran's tourist trade has been badly damaged by recent events. Photograph: Alamy With its enduring relics of a glorious imperial past, spectacular glittering mosques and breathtaking landscapes, Iran lays claim to some of the finest cultural jewels in the Middle East. But a potentially catastrophic collapse in the country's tourist trade is threatening to leave this dazzling array of attractions largely unseen...