My brother has just received an offer for a job in Tehran and needs help deciding whether to take it. So assuming the terms of the contract are acceptable (good pay, etc.), what would it be like for an English-speaking Westerner living in Iran? Would the locals welcome him, or view him with suspicion? Are there any resources I could point him to, like maybe blogs from Westerners working there?
I don’t know if this helps, but my girlfriend was half raised here and half raised in Iran, she is from there.
Right now she had to cancel her planned trip to go see her grandmother in Tehran because it was too dangerous for her to go. She has a Persian and an American passport, I dont’ know much about it other than that. She is a second cousin to the Shah, though. That might be part of it.
I think your brother might be fine. She has always wanted to take me and she said that everyone would be excited to talk to me beause I was foreign and from the West, and contrary to any popular belief, Iranians like talking to Westerners and are very inviting. Rick Steeves had a program just recently about his travels in Iran. That might help too.
Keep in mind that living in Iran is not like living in the US or Canada. Iran is a strict Islamic country with rules and laws that he is probably not familiar with. Getting arrested in Iran, even for a relatively minor infraction, would be a problem since finding an english-speaking lawyer to repreresent you would be difficult and the US Embassy can only do so much.
I have spent weeks living and working in Saudi Arabia and I was left alone for the most part. I respected their rules and laws and didn’t knowingly break any or run around late at night with females.
I suggest your brother do some reading and talk with the US Embassy here to learn about the risks of traveling to Iran.
For me the pay would have to be extremely good before I would consider living there for an extended period of time…
Rug or cat?
I’ve never read any of the books in the “Culture Shock!” series, but there is one about Iran. It may be helpful to him.
There is no US Embassy in Iran (although there is an old building which used to house it). However, I gather from the OP’s location that the brother is probably a British subject which does have diplomatic (albeit strained right now) relations.
FWIW,
Rob
Actually she has both, as funny as that is.
The Persian cat likes to use the Persian rug as a litterbox, and I am sure that there is a joke in there somewhere for someone more clever than I to figure it out.
The punchline is “…because everyone knows no Persian ever shits on another Persian”.
The Rick Steves program on Iran was excellent and very informative; I get the feeling that the average Iranian would LOVE the chance to interact with an American or other westerners, though their government may not want them to…
Remember that Iran was western until the current, ahem, administration took over. That doesn’t disappear overnight. Look how fast Russia re-westernized after the USSR broke up.
And look how far they sadly still have to go. . .
There’s a major bit of violence brewing there.
Unless it really pays well, I’d let the opportunity pass.
Given that the OP is in London, I’m guessing that the brother is British. Britain is currently on Iran’s major shit list.
Avoid.
If your brother has travelled in the Mid East a lot or lived in the developing world, it should be a great opportunity. There has been recent violence, but on the whole, Tehran is vastly safer than London as far as general crime.
Whooooa-OH! I’m a Westerner…
I’m a hated Westerner…
I’m a Westerner in Tehran!
I have no personal knowledge that can answer your question, but I know about a Norwegian who has worked in Tehran for several years, with industrial management. I fired off the OP’s question to him and received this answer:
Thanks all for your replies. If there’s any more information, please keep it coming. 
My brother doesn’t have British or American citizenship, but judging from the responses in this thread it doesn’t seem it would really matter, as many have said that the locals are very polite towards and interested in interacting with Westerners.
Certainly I’ll get him to check out the travel advisories issued by the British, American, and Canadian governments, though of course those give only a very general overview of the country and its potential dangers, and not any sense of what it’s like to live there and interact with the local population. For the latter the Culture Shock book someone recommended seems like a good place to start.
Americans… You know one can read similar kinds of advice about visiting the USA because of all the gun violence in the US. The reality is, unless there were a revolution, our man is unlikely to encounter anything at all.
No it was not. Iran has always been where it is, and was never a “Western” country (never mind Russia, which also never was particularly Westernised…). A small elite was Westernised, but that’s not the country.
Your brother should be fine.
I was offered a job in Iraqi Kurdistan, pretty close to the Iranian border, and was warned that visiting Iran While Western would likely result in my being kidnapped. I took a job elsewhere.
You will go to hell for making me laugh at this time of night.