STALEMATE…

Anyone who has spent time in the Middle East knows tempers are short and wars are long. History tells us that here one spark and the region ignites, smoulders - and burns for a long time. Trump may have only just lit the fuse.

Nowruz 2026

Today is the first day of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. This ancient festival can be traced back 5000 years to Sumerian times. It is steeped in Zoroastrian tradition and Persian legends, celebrating the first day of the first month, Farvardin, of the Iranian Calendar. I’ve been fortunate to be in Iran several times during Nowruz, sharing … Continue reading Nowruz 2026 →

Mowing the Lawn…

Divide and rule is as unlikely to succeed here as regime change from 30 000 feet is. Iranians will not let thousands of years of rich history and culture turn to rubble at their own hands. During the June attacks people in rural areas opened doors to those fleeing the bombardment of their cities, shopkeepers undercharged basic goods and neighbours knocked each other's doors to ask if they needed anything. The ancient Zoroastrian mantra ‘Good Words, Good Thoughts and Good Deeds’ transcends time, religion and ethnicity.

Attacking Iran

From the Zagros Mountains in the west where Alexander’s army squeezed through a small passage to avoid the Persians though the ingenious desert architecture of Yazd to the Heart of the nation (Esfahan) and the Soul (Shiraz) to the Caspian Sea in the north and the Straits of Hormuz in the south, Iranians are proud of their poets, sufis, writers and ancient cultures.

From the beach to the mountains (Winter Travels in Iran, 2019)

As temperatures plummet below zero a picture postcard blanket of snow and ice envelopes the tea houses. The rivers of snowmelt that gush hypnotically beside these summer sanctuaries fall eerily silent, creating an unforgiving environment where only dogs, wolves and bears survive.

The unique island cuisine of the Persian Gulf (winter travels in Iran, 2019)

I still regret not asking the shrimp mafia for a second explosive hit of mutant crustaceans. Subtly dusted with spices and flash fried in a cabin beside a lagoon in Baluchistan - they remain the culinary zenith of my travels in southernmost Iran.

Winter travels in Southern Iran – Qeshm Island, UNESCO Geopark (2019)

As the sun slipped through the last golden strip of clouds, I sat down to absorb the beauty and deathly silence across the spectacular valley. Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, the haunting sound of the call to prayer echoed around the canyon from a village somewhere far on the horizon.

Winter travels in Southern Iran – Hormuz, The Rainbow Island (2019)

Islands have their own mentality. The freshness of salt fused air, beauty of the sunsets and hypnotic rhythm of lapping waves can’t fail to create calmness.

Winter travels in Southern Iran – Baluchistan (2019)

Overlooking the parade of bobbing fishing boats in the pretty harbour, I stared to the horizon, watching as a procession of tankers trudged through the Straits of Hormuz. One of the worlds most contested waterways seemed at peace; for today at least.

Winter travels in Southern Iran – Baluchistan to Hormozgon (2019)

‘For him,’ Amin explains ‘the time is fixed – winter and summer’. In Iranian Baluchistan people do things their own way. The desert has its own rules. Rules determined by tradition and nature – rather than politicians.