Be mindful in Iran

This item appears on page 66 of the February 2013 issue.

The US Department of State con- tinues to warn of the risks of travel to Iran. Dual-national Iranian/American citizens may encounter difficulty in departing Iran. Iranian authori- ties also have unjustly detained or imprisoned US citizens on various charges, including espionage and posing a threat to national security. Persons who encourage Muslims to convert to other religions are subject to arrest.

The Iranian government continues to repress some minority religious and ethnic groups, including Baha’i, Arabs, Kurds, Azeris and others. Consequently, some areas where these minorities reside, including the Baluchistan border area near Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Kurdish region in the northwest and areas near the Iraqi border, remain unsafe.