Australian and British bloggers arrested in Iran

[shade]

yes very sad, when we started exporting oil, Iran thought we were stealing and wanted an audit to collect the royalties due, Britain said get stuffed, Iran voted democratically to nationalize their oil, the USA, Britain in 1952, backed the Iranian opposition and became a hated enemy of Iran forever.

Just think how we would react if a foreign country tried to oust our President and steal our resources.

Iran, rightly so, has no trust in the west.

When the last revolution went down, the West (U.S. in particular) clearly backed the Shah, and that wasn't very long ago. Both sides have unhappiness to answer for, and a lot of innocent people are caught in the middle, as usual.

I won't condemn the InstaOverlanders any more than I'd condemn mountaineers that got into a bad spot. Whatever they actually did isn't as important as where they did it, and where they're from; now they have to face the consequences. Glad it's not me, and I hope they're booted out of Iran sooner than later.

 

[Christian P.]

I just deleted the last posting, as this was quickly turning political. Thanks

 

[68camaro]

I just deleted the last posting, as this was quickly turning political. Thanks

PM sent....your political biases are clearly present in what you delete and allow. I merely followed where thread was going.

 

[billiebob]

When the last revolution went down, the West (U.S. in particular) clearly backed the Shah, and that wasn't very long ago. Both sides have unhappiness to answer for, and a lot of innocent people are caught in the middle, as usual.

I won't condemn the InstaOverlanders any more than I'd condemn mountaineers that got into a bad spot. Whatever they actually did isn't as important as where they did it, and where they're from; now they have to face the consequences. Glad it's not me, and I hope they're booted out of Iran sooner than later.

Yep, no matter where we travel we need to do it for the chance to discover, respect a new culture, maybe a new language, definitely new foods. There are crazy places we fit in fine but even here in North America, we have huge differences between Alberta & Quebec, California & Alabama, Hawaii & Minnesota. There are ways to do it safely without being offensive and there are ways which might threaten freedom & security.

Stories like this couples in Iran need to be shared. Wishing them God Speed to find a way home.

 

[NevadaLover]

They broke a law in a foreign country that is very unfriendly to outsiders in this current time, they are going to face some harsh punishment before they are released, IF they are released.

 

[1leglance]

I remember going to Cuba years ago when it was way different than now...
You could not take a GPS, had to be very careful what camera you had especially if it had any sort of long lens, and incandescent light bulbs were illegal to bring in...I even remember when they said you could no longer carry around US currency. And before each trip I research and respected the law regardless of how I felt about it.
There are places you can "say sorry" and be fine and there are places you don't mess around. Iran would be on the "don't screw up" list for sure.
Even having a drone is not cool in some countries, why risk flying one if you are not 100% sure you are good?
I deal with people every day who are injured from doing stupid stuff.....I don't offer my prayers or hopes when they knew better, I give them quality healthcare and yet have no problem saying how stupid the action was.

 

[DorB]

I don’t know if to be more shamed or discussed by some people’s reply here.
Two young travelers are held in one of the worlds most infamous regimes prison for what is likely a simple mistake and all your sympathy is distilled to “don’t be stupid/don’t fly a drone/Iran is not the problem”?

What’s wrong with you people?

Have some basic decency and humanity.

That’s not the time to lecture your smartness from the comfort of your Couch.

 

[NevadaLover]

I don’t know if to be more shamed or discussed by some people’s reply here.
Two young travelers are held in one of the worlds most infamous regimes prison for what is likely a simple mistake and all your sympathy is distilled to “don’t be stupid/don’t fly a drone/Iran is not the problem”?

What’s wrong with you people?

Have some basic decency and humanity.

That’s not the time to lecture your smartness from the comfort of your Couch.

The root of this whole problem IS the fact that they committed a crime, doesn't matter where, doesn't matter why, the fact is... THEY broke that law, do you go to your nearest jail or prison and complain that it is inhumane to be punished for breaking the law of the land?

That's not the time to lecture your permissiveness from the comfort of your Couch.

 

[1leglance]

I don’t know if to be more shamed or discussed by some people’s reply here.
Two young travelers are held in one of the worlds most infamous regimes prison for what is likely a simple mistake and all your sympathy is distilled to “don’t be stupid/don’t fly a drone/Iran is not the problem”?

What’s wrong with you people?

Have some basic decency and humanity.

That’s not the time to lecture your smartness from the comfort of your Couch.

Do you correct a child when they make dangerous mistakes? Of course and you do it out of love and decency....
We are saying all this so the next young or old folks who think they can get away will doing something illegal and especially something illegal in a place like Iran just for a travel blog...well we all hope they will learn a valuable lesson and it is the decent thing to do.

Should the folks who shut down Gatwick or Heathrow airports for days with their drone be punished? Of course that was stupid and could have caused an airline crash. And we are talking 1st world country laws......Iran's laws, yeah I would be happy to travel there but I would research the law first.

 

[DorB]

The root of this whole problem IS the fact that they committed a crime, doesn't matter where, doesn't matter why, the fact is... THEY broke that law, do you go to your nearest jail or prison and complain that it is inhumane to be punished for breaking the law of the land?

That's not the time to lecture your permissiveness from the comfort of your Couch.

I’m not nearly passive, I just don’t continue to beat someone when he’s already knocked out.

Nothing you say will help them or enlighten anything they didn’t figure out by now.
I’m sure they eclcnoldge their mistake where they are right now. Lesson throughly learned.. I’m sure of that.

And to be precise, no one officially states what they’re charged at.
In Iran.. only a week ago a young woman was accused “breaking the Iranian law” by wanting to see a soccer game, in a way that caused her to set herself on fire.
Get out of your comfort zone and see the real world out there.

 

[NevadaLover]

I’m not nearly passive, I just don’t continue to beat someone when he’s already knocked out.

Nothing you say will help them or enlighten anything they didn’t figure out by now.
I’m sure they eclcnoldge their mistake where they are right now. Lesson throughly learned.. I’m sure of that.

And to be precise, no one officially states what they’re charged at.
In Iran.. only a week ago a young woman was accused “breaking the Iranian law” by wanting to see a soccer game, in a way that caused her to set herself on fire.
Get out of your comfort zone and see the real world out there.

So this is the portals fault they are imprisoned in iran because we made them go there and break the law? Nope, not buying that, is it because we aren't sobbing and wringing our hands and vowing to go change the world??
Nope, ain't buying that garbage either, whether or not myself or the other users here feel pity for them isn't going to help them, the law says no drones without permits, they had NO permits now they are imprisoned, not my fault not your fault and not the fault of the portal, it's their fault and that's that.

 

[perterra]

I expect they learned something important.
For better or worse, Iran is seeing to it the rest of the world learns something too. Its their right.

Yep, as f'd up as it may be, you are in their country. I dont like it, but there is nothing that I can do about it.

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

In Iran.. only a week ago a young woman was accused “breaking the Iranian law” by wanting to see a soccer game, in a way that caused her to set herself on fire.

You just made everyone's point. Iran is not Ohio. It's not Quebec. It's not Ireland. Go to one of those places and break the law and you may be fined or punished accordingly. Go to Iran and do it and the punishment will be far more severe and not likely to be in a sane measurement. The best option is NOT to go there. It's too late for these folks to learn but maybe some other starry eyed individual reading this thread will get a clue.

 

[GB_Willys_2014]

I’m not nearly passive, I just don’t continue to beat someone when he’s already knocked out.

Nothing you say will help them or enlighten anything they didn’t figure out by now.
I’m sure they eclcnoldge their mistake where they are right now. Lesson throughly learned.. I’m sure of that.

And to be precise, no one officially states what they’re charged at.
In Iran.. only a week ago a young woman was accused “breaking the Iranian law” by wanting to see a soccer game, in a way that caused her to set herself on fire.
Get out of your comfort zone and see the real world out there.

I get your point and know where you are coming from, I really do. We have something in common, achi.

I am NO fan of the Iranian regime. I cannot stress this enough. Well, I suppose I could, but don't want to earn a ban.

But ... I read the exchange here not to be defense of the Iranian regime, but rather emphasis on personal responsibility and accountability, which is a recurring theme in many threads here.

That is to say, regardless of whether or not Iranian laws are draconian (and I think they are), if one chooses to travel to Iran, then one must be prepared to properly behave in that environment.

Personally, I wouldn't travel to Iran, SA or dozens of other countries (until their laws drastically change) for all the tea in China.

 

[NevadaLover]

Personally, I wouldn't travel to Iran, SA or dozens of other countries (until their laws drastically change) for all the tea in China.

I agree wholeheartedly. I have California on that list, but that's a personal opinion!