Bodyguard in Iran
Protection in Iran, answered without evasion.
Protection in Iran is structured differently from Europe or the Gulf. Security activity is regulated and supervised by the state and is arranged through licensed local providers, and guiding and tourism are licensed activities that certain nationalities may only use in a specific form. What can be arranged, and arranged well, is a protective escort, a vetted security driver, and licensed guide and interpreter support across the country. Every engagement is screened for sanctions compliance before it is accepted. Send your dates, party and purpose of travel and we will tell you plainly what is possible.
What people ask before enquiring.
What is actually available
Protective escort, vetted security drivers, licensed guides and interpreters, and coordination across cities, arranged as one programme rather than separate bookings.
Screening comes first
Parties, purpose, counterparties and payment route are screened before anything is scheduled. We do not work with designated persons or entities and we decline what cannot be done compliantly.
What it costs
From USD 900 per day (the EUR 850 market base) for one officer on a twelve-hour day, with drivers, vehicles and guides quoted alongside. Settled before travel, never in country.
Who travels with you
A named coordinator, a vetted driver and a licensed guide or interpreter where your itinerary or nationality requires one. One local team, briefed before you land.
Nationality decides the plan
Visa rules and guide obligations differ sharply by passport, and some nationalities may travel only on an approved itinerary with a licensed guide. Tell us every passport at the outset.
Where we cover
Tehran and the Alborz, Isfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis, Yazd and Kashan on the desert route, Kerman and Mashhad on request, and the Gulf islands.
Iran rewards planning more than almost anywhere we work.
The distances are continental, the domestic aviation network carries most of the load, the road legs between the desert cities are long and empty, and almost nothing can be fixed with a card and a phone once you are inside the country. Add licensed guides, city-by-city access arrangements and a cash economy, and an itinerary assembled from separate bookings becomes fragile in a way that a European one never does.
So we build it as one programme: one written plan, one named contact, licensed local providers in each city, and the handovers between them treated as events in their own right. The practical measure of a good Iranian itinerary is how little the principal has to solve personally, and that is decided weeks before departure rather than on the ground.
What support in Iran is actually for.
One of the great cultural routes
Isfahan, Shiraz, Persepolis, Yazd and Kashan rank with any heritage journey in the world, and they are long legs that reward a planned programme rather than improvisation.
Diaspora and family visits
Iranian families abroad returning for relatives, property or events. Most of the value is a trusted driver, a fixed schedule and someone who removes the practical friction.
Screened commercial travel
Regional commercial visitors whose travel is lawful and compliant. Reliable movement, interpretation and complete discretion about the schedule.
Road safety, not crime
The dominant risk to a visitor is a traffic accident. Everything else in the plan sits behind that, which is why the driver and the vehicle are the first line items rather than the last.
Cash and connectivity
Foreign cards do not work and internet access is restricted and inconsistent. Both are planned around rather than discovered on arrival.
Medical distance
On the desert and mountain routes the nearest capable hospital can be hours away. Route planning states where it is and how long it takes, before anyone sets off.
Tehran: the entry point and the working city
Almost every Iranian itinerary begins in Tehran. It is a city of enormous scale climbing from south to north against the Alborz, with the better hotels, restaurants and residences concentrated in the northern districts, a controlled traffic zone governing which vehicles may enter the centre and when, and traffic that is the single most likely thing to injure a visitor. International arrivals land at Imam Khomeini, well south of the city, while domestic flights use Mehrabad inside it.
The capital has its own page covering the airports, the traffic scheme, the northern districts, hotels, the practical business of cash and connectivity, and the Alborz day trips: protection in Tehran. For most programmes it is also where the first and last night sit, which makes it the natural place to hold the spare time in a schedule.
Isfahan: the set piece, and the crowds it draws
Isfahan is the centrepiece of most heritage itineraries: the great square with its mosques and palace, the bridges over the Zayandeh Rud, the bazaar and the Armenian quarter. It is also a city where the interesting parts are walking environments, the square fills with domestic visitors on holidays and evenings, and the bazaar is a genuine maze in which a party separates easily and a phone signal is unreliable.
We plan Isfahan as pedestrian work with a vehicle nearby rather than the reverse: agreed holding points for the car, a licensed guide who knows which entrances are usable at which hours, a meeting point fixed before anyone goes into the bazaar, and timing that puts you in the square early or late rather than in the middle of a holiday afternoon.
Shiraz, Persepolis and the south
Shiraz is the base for Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam, and the sites themselves are open, exposed and hot for much of the year, with little shade and long walking distances across uneven ground. The city adds gardens, shrines and a gentler pace than Tehran. The drive out to the ruins is straightforward, and the planning question is almost entirely about heat, timing and the physical capacity of the party.
We schedule the sites for the early morning or the late afternoon, carry water and shade in the vehicle rather than relying on what is available on site, keep the walking pace to the slowest member of the party, and agree in advance how long the party genuinely wants to be there, which is usually less than an ambitious itinerary assumes.
Yazd, Kashan and the desert road
The desert route between Isfahan, Yazd and Kashan is one of the most rewarding parts of the country and the part that most needs planning. The legs are long, the road is empty for extended stretches, phone coverage is patchy, fuel and rest stops are limited, and the temperature range between a summer afternoon and a winter night is extreme. This is the section of an Iranian itinerary where a breakdown stops being an inconvenience.
We plan these legs with a vehicle checked before departure rather than assumed, fuel and water carried, communications that work where the phone network does not, a stated arrival time with someone watching for it, and a clear statement of where the nearest capable hospital is on each stretch. Where the schedule is tight, we recommend flying a leg rather than driving it.
Domestic aviation and how the country is actually crossed
Distances in Iran make domestic flights the practical backbone of any multi-city programme, and the network is extensive between the main cities. The realities to plan around are schedule changes, seasonal capacity, and the fact that booking is handled locally rather than through the international platforms most travellers use, because those platforms cannot process Iranian payments.
We book through the local agency, hold a road or alternative-flight fallback for the legs that matter, meet every domestic arrival with a named driver rather than leaving a principal at a terminal door, and keep the day's schedule loose enough on either side of a flight that one delay does not remove an entire afternoon.
Guides, entry rules and what your passport decides
Iran's entry requirements differ sharply by nationality, and for several passports, including United States, United Kingdom and Canadian nationals, travel is only permitted on an approved itinerary accompanied by a licensed guide. Guiding is itself a licensed activity arranged through an approved agency, and at the major sites tourist police may ask to see that licence. None of this is discretionary and none of it can be resolved after arrival.
We establish the position for every passport in the party at the enquiry stage, because it determines the shape of the entire programme: which itinerary can be filed, which guide arrangement applies, and in some cases whether the trip should be attempted at all. Dual nationals should take independent legal advice on their personal position before travelling, and we say so plainly rather than leaving it unmentioned.
Drivers and vehicles: the first line item, not the last
Because road traffic is the dominant risk to a visitor in Iran, the driver and the vehicle carry more of the safety load here than anywhere else we operate. A vetted professional driver in a properly maintained and insured vehicle, permitted for the central traffic zone on the days it is needed, driving at a pace that does not match the traffic around it, removes more genuine risk than any other single measure available.
We specify the vehicle to the route rather than to the impression it makes, rotate drivers on long legs, brief every driver on the day's schedule and the medical plan, and treat the vehicle check before a desert or mountain leg as a fixed part of the programme rather than as an optional courtesy.
How an Iranian programme is actually run
Compliance screening first, then a written plan: a named coordinator, licensed local providers in each city, vetted drivers and vehicles, a protective escort where the profile calls for one, and licensed guides where the itinerary or the nationality requires them. Payment is settled before travel in one currency. Communications, cash handling and medical planning are agreed in writing, not assumed.
What we will not do matters as much. We do not use unlicensed operators, we do not accept engagements that fail screening, and we do not describe an itinerary as straightforward when it is not. Where we believe a visit should not proceed in the form proposed, we say so, explain the reasoning and offer the alternative if one exists.
What governs an Iran engagement, stated plainly.
Sanctions compliance is the first gate. Iran is subject to extensive international sanctions, including United States primary and secondary measures and European Union restrictions, and the international banking channels most clients rely on are largely unavailable. Every engagement touching Iran is screened before acceptance: the parties, the purpose of travel, the counterparties and the payment route. We do not work with designated persons or entities, we do not structure arrangements to avoid restrictions, and we decline engagements that cannot be performed compliantly. Clients remain responsible for their own regulatory position; where the exposure is complex, that is a question for your own legal counsel rather than for a security provider.
On the ground, security activity in Iran is regulated and supervised by the state, and protection is arranged through licensed Iranian providers rather than by a foreign team operating independently. Tourism and guiding are licensed activities, and travellers of several nationalities may enter only on an approved itinerary with a licensed guide. Algoz arranges protective escort, secure transport and guide coordination exclusively through licensed Iranian providers, and never through informal operators. We also advise every client to read their own government's current travel advice for Iran and to weigh it seriously: several governments advise against travel altogether, and dual nationals should take independent legal advice on their personal position before entering the country. See how our close protection works or compare jurisdictions on bodyguard laws by country.
Seasons, and the fortnight that stops the country.
April to early June and late September to November are the comfortable windows across most of the country, and the right time for the heritage route. Summer is severe on the plateau and in the desert cities, where sightseeing becomes an early-morning and late-afternoon activity only. Winter is cold in Tehran and the north, snowbound in the Alborz, and brings the pollution inversions that make the capital difficult for anyone with a respiratory condition.
Nowruz, the Persian new year around 21 March, is the date that decides everything: the country travels for roughly two weeks, flights and hotels fill months in advance, the heritage sites are at their most crowded and many businesses close. Religious observances and public holidays change opening hours and traffic through the year. We check your dates against the calendar before quoting, because here the calendar matters far more than the weather.
The answers you actually need before you book.
Compliance before scheduling
We need the purpose of travel, the parties and the intended payment route at enquiry. Screening happens before anything is scheduled, and a failed screening ends the engagement rather than delaying it.
Every passport, at the outset
Entry rules and guide obligations differ by nationality and shape the whole programme. Send every passport in the party at the first enquiry, including second nationalities.
Settled before travel
International cards do not work in Iran and transfers are constrained. Terms are agreed and settled before departure, in one currency, with nothing owed on the ground by your principal.
What you get in writing
The coordinator, drivers and vehicles by city, guides where required, the covered hours, the itinerary as briefed, a named Algoz contact, the rate and exclusions, and the change and cancellation terms.
NDA and the principal name
NDA cover is standard and extends to the people on the ground. The itinerary is treated as confidential information, which matters more on this destination than on most.
When we say no
If a programme cannot be run compliantly or safely, we decline it and explain why. On this destination that is the most valuable thing we can provide.
"A country is not a series of bookings. It is one plan, held by one person, from the arrivals hall to the last transfer."
Protective Escort in Iran
Share your dates, the party, every passport and the purpose of travel. We screen first, then respond with a clear proposal and a final rate, confidential from the first message.
EnquireWhat support in Iran costs.
A protective escort in Iran starts from USD 900 per day (the EUR 850 market base) for one officer covering a single principal on a twelve-hour day, with the final rate shaped by the programme and confirmed on enquiry with no obligation. On most Iranian itineraries the vetted security driver and the properly maintained vehicle carry more of the value than an escort does, and licensed guides are quoted alongside where the itinerary or the nationality requires them. Above the base: a second officer, female officers and guides, long desert legs with their vehicle and communications planning, and multi-city routes.
Payment is settled before travel in one currency, because international cards and banking do not function in country. Multi-city routes are quoted as one programme rather than as separate days, since the domestic flights, the city-by-city guides and the handovers are part of both the cost and the value. Further reading: what a bodyguard costs and protection in Tehran.
Protection in related destinations.
Protecting celebrities & public figures
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Celebrity Close ProtectionAlgoz FZ-LLC (Trade License 5033995 | TRN 105119056700001) is licensed for Businessmen Services and Lifestyle Development Consultancy by RAKEZ. We do not directly provide armed or unarmed security, bodyguard or close-protection services. All operational execution is performed exclusively by licensed third-party partners holding the necessary local permits. In Iran, security activity is regulated and supervised by the state and tourism and guiding are licensed activities; we arrange protective escort, secure transport and guide coordination through licensed Iranian providers only. Every engagement touching Iran is subject to sanctions compliance screening before acceptance, and we decline any engagement that cannot be performed compliantly. Clients remain responsible for their own regulatory position, for obtaining any required approvals, and for reviewing their own government's current travel advice. All activities comply with UAE laws and RAKEZ regulations.