Islamic dignitaries from around the world are convening in Tehran to commemorate the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, and many of them are staying right here in the Laleh Hotel. Late this afternoon, Ryan and I were leaving the hotel to conduct interviews, when we noticed that the police were setting up a metal detector, and x-ray machine and a bag search at the entrance to the hotel. In our bags, we had several still and video cameras, recording equipment, and a large microphone! We're here on a tourist visa, so we didn't really want to have to explain why we were so laden with professional audiovisual equipment. Uh oh!
Fortunately, we were able to come up with a solution. After conducting several interviews (and enjoying ourselves) at a house party outside Tehran, we asked one of our Iranian friends to keep much of our gear overnight. He dropped us off (at 2 am) around the corner from the hotel, and Ryan and I strolled through the search with no problem. Just a few hours later, our trusty friend met us outside the hotel with all our gear and escorted us to a full day of interviews -- and was kind enough to help us with some translation as well. Very impressive for a man who had been out partying until the wee hours!
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