Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC.  It has hosted great invaders like Genghis Khan from the east and Alexander the Great from the west. Iran invokes images of woman in chadors, tiled mosques dazzling in the sunlight, mullahs, covered bazaars, Persian carpets, desert towns with twisting laneways and snow-capped peaks. With the right visa, it is still possible to visit Iran to discover what may be the best-kept secrets of the Middle East.