And you can recommend a reputable tour agency who will issue an authorization number for me so I can get a visa at the embassy. Im hesitant to just send a lot of money to some unknown agency in Iran. I am U.S. citizen. Thanks.

I'm American. I visited Iran for about 10 days, but it was some years ago. I was living in the UAE at the time. The embassy would not issue the three of us visas directly, but the (officially recognized) agent we used got the visas and made all the travel arrangements.

We had someone with us the whole time we were there. The only time we were left entirely on our own was when we first arrived because bad weather caused our flight to be diverted from Tehran to Abadan on the Iraqi border. The immigrations officers were a bit surprised when we got off the plane. but took it well. We were taken to a "motel" for the night and the next morning a car & driver miraculously appeared to take us on to Shiraz where we met up with our guide (and semi-official minder). The driver even stopped at some relative's home en route where we were given a home cooked meal.

And you can recommend a reputable tour agency ...

Not sure if things have changed since when we did it, but we had to use an Iranian travel agent who had a "special connection" to the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi. I don't think they would have cooperated with just any travel agent, no matter how reputable, because it was obvious that arrangements for all our accommodations, the guides and travel within Iran were mapped out and approved before the visas were granted.

Probably best to contact the Iranian embassy to ask for an approved agent authorized to make travel arrangements for someone travelling on a US passport. As a word of caution, if a woman is travelling with you, she'll need to wear an abaya at all times and even have her head covered when visiting an Iranian embassy, and she should never offer to shake hands with any male ( as our female traveling companion sometimes did to considerable shock & awe) ... unless things have changed since we were there.

We did have a great time and everyone was very pleasant and friendly (with the sole exception of one female immigrations officer in Tehran when were finally heading back to the UAE).

We were able to use US $ currency and, I was surprised to discover, even a US based MasterCard for a purchase ... but that may or may not still be true.

I'm American. I visited Iran for about 10 days, but it was some years ago. I was living in the UAE at the time. The embassy would not issue the three of us visas directly, but the (officially recognized) agent we used got the visas and made all the travel arrangements.

We had someone with us the whole time we were there. The only time we were left entirely on our own was when we first arrived because bad weather caused our flight to be diverted from Tehran to Abadan on the Iraqi border. The immigrations officers were a bit surprised when we got off the plane. but took it well. We were taken to a "motel" for the night and the next morning a car & driver miraculously appeared to take us on to Shiraz where we met up with our guide (and semi-official minder). The driver even stopped at some relative's home en route where we were given a home cooked meal.

And you can recommend a reputable tour agency ...

Not sure if things have changed since when we did it, but we had to use an Iranian travel agent who had a "special connection" to the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi. I don't think they would have cooperated with just any travel agent, no matter how reputable, because it was obvious that arrangements for all our accommodations, the guides and travel within Iran were mapped out and approved before the visas were granted.

Probably best to contact the Iranian embassy to ask for an approved agent authorized to make travel arrangements for someone travelling on a US passport. As a word of caution, if a woman is travelling with you, she'll need to wear an abaya at all times and even have her head covered when visiting an Iranian embassy, and she should never offer to shake hands with any male ( as our female traveling companion sometimes did to considerable shock & awe) ... unless things have changed since we were there.

We did have a great time and everyone was very pleasant and friendly (with the sole exception of one female immigrations officer in Tehran when were finally heading back to the UAE).

We were able to use US $ currency and, I was surprised to discover, even a US based MasterCard for a purchase ... but that may or may not still be true.

Wow, thanks for the detailed response. I will hit up the embassy in BKK and get current details.