I visited Iran in 2004 and it was wonderful. As a US citizen, I was on a tour, but did manage to break away a lot. My adult son traveled with me and one of the things that amazed me was that young women would stand around talking about him and then when I appeared, they would come up and talk with him. Evidently they were waiting until there was a woman with him.
It is a lovely country. Esfahan is truly gorgeous. At one time, there were flights from Esfahan to NYC. No more.