It's early morning, late September. I stride across Meidan-e Shah Square (the massive Royal Square) in old town Esfahan (or Isfahan),...

In the wilderness about 200 miles south of Tehran is a place called “Half of the World.” Ishfahan, twice the capital of Persia, was the...

Shiraz, Iran is a poet's (Hafiz's) oasis, where the art of Islam has prominence

I arrived at the ruins of Persepolis, near Shiraz, with great anticipation. The skies were clear and the sun burned hot even in...

Tomb of Cyrus the Great (all photos are my own) “O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus...

The historical vibrations of Persia really begin to hit home in the central desert towns of Iran, especially in the large city of Yazd —...

One of the oldest towns in the world displays some of the finest Persian architecture in central Asia

Modern Iran is certainly a paragon of Islam but the country’s culture also has deep roots in the ancient mostly unrecorded Zoroastrian...

Do human beings (living things) have real “free will”? The philosophical debate over this question probably will continue eternally even...

Traveling through Iran-Persia from Tehran to Kashan

While Tehran has much human drama to keep a first-time or umpteenth-time visitor entertained, the heart of Iran still beats in the...

Whose head is that? The Lion and Sun (شیر و خورشید‎‎, Shir o Khorshid) emblem (holding a shamshir, scimitar) remained the official...

If your Persian rug wasn't made in Iran, then it isn't a Persian carpet. There is mystery woven into each fabric composition that is...

Iran/Persia is the torn heart of Central Asia (Asia Minor). Secular China is the body, Byzantine Russia the head, the Hindu Indian...

Cosmopolitan Smog - view from Tochal Ski Mountain Tehran, the largest city and capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran, fans out below...

This account of Iran's people, land, arts, and history begins simply with a collection of faces -- of citizens going about their daily...

Buckled in a business class seat on a Lufthansa airliner scheduled to depart from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington D.C. , on September...