Iran International
Iran’ says a new website aims to quickly reassure Iranians abroad they can return home risk-free as it tries to coax back expats to revive a grim economy, but analysts say safety remains elusive.
Under a new law Iranians will be able to enter their details on a Foreign Ministry’s portal called Porseman to check whether they are “problem-free” to travel to Iran, top envoy Abbas Araghchi said according to state media.
Those cleared receive a green tick indicating they have no outstanding legal or security issues. Araghchi went further, saying that if a person with a green tick is arrested, “those who arrested them will be prosecuted.”
He described the plan as part of an effort to “decriminalize the mindset” of Iranians abroad and encourage smoother travel home.
The statement immediately drew ridicule online.
Iranian journalist Hossein Bastani wrote on X that the idea was absurd, asking where the Foreign Ministry could “take action” against more powerful armed organs of state power like the Intelligence Ministry or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Competing state bodies staffed variously by clerics, security men, spies and conservative bureaucrats vie hotly for influence in the Islamic theocracy.
US diplomats have frequently criticized the foreign ministry as beholden to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the IRGC.
Authorities are not the authorities
Analysts interviewed by Iran International said the Porseman portal may be subject to the vagaries of Iran's divided system.
Patrick Clawson, director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the initiative ignores the fundamental problem: that “the authorities are not the authorities.”
Different agencies in Iran, he said, often act without coordination or oversight, meaning a traveler could be cleared by one branch of government and still detained by another.
That lack of hierarchy, Clawson added, has long frustrated both diplomats and negotiators dealing with Tehran.
“You could have eight agencies saying you’re fine,” he said, “and the ninth one arrests you.” Clawson dismissed Araghchi’s claim of prosecuting the Revolutionary Guard as political theater, calling it another example of how little power the foreign minister actually holds in Iran’s decision-making structure.
'No green tick will protect you'
Alex Vatanka, head of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, said the Islamic Republic has spent years trying to convince Iranians abroad to visit and invest, but trust is almost nonexistent. The foreign ministry can make assurances, he said, but “if another branch of the system decides you’re a target, no green tick will protect you.”
That fear is not unfounded. Lebanese academic Nizar Zakka and Australian researcher Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who both described their ordeals in interviews with Iran International's podcast Eye for Iran— were invited to Iran by senior officials for conferences and academic exchanges, only to be later arrested and imprisoned on spurious charges.
Their cases remain emblematic of how one arm of the state can extend invitations while another turns those same visitors into hostages.
Vatanka believes the initiative stems from desperation to attract tourism and foreign currency as Iran’s economy falters.
“They look at Turkey, the UAE, even Saudi Arabia making billions from tourism, while Iran—with all its history and culture—gets almost nothing,” he said.
“But Iran treats people as currency. Hostage-taking has been part of its political toolbox since 1979, and that’s not something a website can fix.”
Former US diplomat Alan Eyre said the timing of the Porseman rollout also reflects President Masoud Pezeshkian’s attempt to project normalcy after a bruising year marked by snapback sanctions, a 12-day war, and deepening isolation.
“They’re trying to show Iran is open for tourism and investment,” Eyre told Iran International, “but the executive branch is weak and can’t control the security forces that actually run things.”
Eyre said the effort fits a familiar pattern: after international crises, the clerical establishment launches cosmetic outreach to soften its image abroad. But, he added, “beneath that surface message of safety, you still have a system that arrests its own citizens and uses them as bargaining chips.”
The US State Department has long advised US citizens not to travel to Iran, citing risks of arbitrary arrest, detention, and hostage-taking, and the current Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory remains in place.
For now, Porseman offers reassurance only on paper. In practice, the same system that issues a green tick cannot resolve the uncertainty that defines travel to Iran — a country where returning home still carries unpredictable risk.
Meysam Gholami, acting head of the state-run Research Institute of Cyberspace told a national cyber conference that an opinion poll found 2.4% of respondents were “very satisfied” and 17% “somewhat satisfied” with internet in Iran.
By contrast, 41% said they were “not very satisfied” and 38% “not satisfied at all,” with 2% declining to answer, according to remarks carried by Iranian media.
Gholami said about 61% of users reported using free VPNs and circumvention tools. He added that 10% keep VPNs “almost always” on, 53% switch them on for specific tasks, and 14% said they do not use VPNs.
He warned that widespread use of no-cost tools can degrade performance and raise privacy risks.
The official also cited access and usage gaps. Roughly 23% of Iranians aged over 15 -- about 15 million people-- do not use the internet at all, he said.
Average daily screen time in Iran stands at about 7 hours 10 minutes across phones, games and media, compared with a global average of roughly 6 hours, Gholami added, describing the figure as a cultural and public-health concern.
Gholami urged a “data-driven, non-political” approach to digital policy, saying survey results suggest domestic services do not fully meet user needs where VPNs are most frequently switched on.
He also flagged emerging security issues from connected devices in homes, saying some smart appliances can transmit detailed data to manufacturers, and called for stronger privacy safeguards.
Iran’s government has long maintained controls on major foreign platforms and says restrictions are necessary for national security.
Witnesses said police, Basij militia and Revolutionary Guards manned checkpoints and turned people back from access routes in Fars province.
Iran has long declined to recognize Cyrus Day in its official calendar, and has in past years restricted access to Pasargadae and, at times, Persepolis to discourage large gatherings around the Achaemenid-era sites.
Security curbs around the October 28-31 anniversary -- linked by some accounts to Cyrus’s entry into Babylon in 539 BCE -- have become routine since large crowds rallied at the tomb in 2016.
The latest closures came amid renewed public debate inside Iran over how to commemorate pre-Islamic heritage.
Ghader Ashna, secretary of the Public Culture Council at the culture ministry, told the ISNA news agency that over the past year no formal request had reached his body to add “Cyrus Day” to the national calendar, but said any proposal would be reviewed by a dedicated working group and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Separately, ISNA quoted cultural scholar Bahman Namvar-Motlagh as saying that honoring Cyrus did not contradict Iran’s Islamic identity and could help bolster social cohesion if handled without “excess or confrontation.”
He framed interest in Cyrus among younger Iranians as part of a broader search for common symbols of national unity in a tense regional environment.
Rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi marked the day with a message on Instagram describing Cyrus as a “cultural symbol” associated with tolerance and justice, and contrasted that legacy with Iran’s record on political freedoms and capital punishment.
Exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, told supporters at a Toronto event earlier this month that a future post-Islamic Republic order should elevate the 2020 Abraham Accords into what he called “Cyrus Accords,” recasting Iran as a promoter of regional peace rather than conflict.
Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, is widely cited in Iran’s schools and popular culture as a touchstone of nationhood. The Pasargadae site and Persepolis -- both UNESCO-listed -- draw steady domestic and foreign tourism, though access has at times been restricted on sensitive dates.
In 2024, heritage outlets connected to the state reported fencing and concrete barriers on the road to Pasargadae ahead of the October commemorations.
Iranian scientists and officials have separately warned that land subsidence from groundwater over-extraction is emerging as a long-term threat to several heritage sites, including areas around Persepolis and the Tomb of Cyrus.
Geologists cited this month reported cracks and surface fissures in Fars and other provinces, saying cumulative deformation could damage historic fabric over years if water withdrawals are not curbed.
Cyrus Day is not an official holiday, but diaspora communities and some Iranians at home mark it annually with cultural events and online campaigns.
The Islamic Republic’s leadership has historically promoted an Islamic “ummah” identity and has sometimes viewed mass gatherings at pre-Islamic monuments as politically sensitive, especially amid periodic anti-government protests.
Iranian state bodies did not immediately issue a statement on Wednesday’s access limits in Fars.
