My husband Ed and I joined a tour in Amman, Jordan, that flew to Iran and spent 2 weeks there. Ed and I departed from the group in order to attend a conference and to spend several days with professors from the Institute for North American and European Studies at the University of Tehran. It was an excellent experience. We were working at a research center in Amman at the time and were able to get our visas through the tour leader, Mrs. Payande Shahin. She is now planning 2 trips for this spring, one in April and one in May. They will leave from Amman, fly to Tehran, and then visit a number of sites in Iran, including the cities Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, as well as smaller towns and villages, monuments, shrines, mosques and churches. It is not the ideal way to go to Iran, given that a tour forces the group will on everyone, and a number are on the tour to shop for Persian carpets and other Iranian goods. But it was our opportunity to obtain a visa in a short time and to make the trip without any difficulties.