Bodyguard in Tehran
Protection in Tehran, answered honestly.
Protection in Iran works differently from Europe or the Gulf. Security services are regulated and supervised by the state, so everything is arranged through a licensed local provider rather than by bringing in a foreign team, and much of what a visitor actually needs is delivered by that provider, a vetted driver and a professional guide. What we arrange in Tehran is a protective escort and secure transport through licensed local providers, with the compliance screening that any engagement touching Iran requires. Send your dates and purpose of travel and we will tell you plainly what can and cannot be done.
What people ask before enquiring.
What is actually available
A protective escort, a vetted security driver, a licensed guide and interpreter, and coordination with the venues and agencies your visit requires, arranged as one programme.
Sanctions screening first
Every Iran engagement is screened before it is accepted. We do not work with designated parties, and we decline anything that cannot be arranged compliantly. This is a condition, not a formality.
What it costs
From USD 900 per day (the EUR 850 market base) for one officer on a twelve-hour day, with drivers, guides and vehicles quoted alongside. Payment is arranged before travel, never in country.
Who travels with you
A named local coordinator, a vetted driver and a licensed guide or interpreter where the itinerary or your nationality requires one, briefed before you land.
Cards do not work
International bank and credit cards do not function in Iran. Everything is planned around cash carried in or arranged locally through the agency, which is itself a security consideration.
Where we cover
Tehran and the northern districts, both airports, the Alborz foothills and ski areas, and onward legs to Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd and Kashan on the national programme.
The dangerous part of Tehran is the traffic.
Visitors arrive expecting a security problem and meet a road-safety one. Iran's road casualty figures are among the worst in the region, Tehran's traffic is fast, dense and improvisational, motorcycles use every available gap including pavements, and the single most likely thing to injure a foreign visitor is a vehicle. Street crime against foreigners is comparatively low, and Iranians are notably hospitable to visitors, which is genuinely the experience most business travellers report.
That reorders the whole plan. The most valuable thing we provide in Tehran is a professional driver in a properly maintained vehicle who does not drive the way the city drives, followed by someone who handles the practical friction: the traffic-zone restrictions that govern which cars may enter the centre on which days, the address system, the language, and the arrangements that have to be made in person because they cannot be made online.
What support in Tehran is actually for.
Commercial visits
Trade, industrial and technical visitors from the region whose travel is lawful and screened. The requirement is reliable movement, interpretation and discretion about the schedule.
Family and heritage travel
Iranian families abroad returning to visit relatives, manage property or attend events, who want a driver they trust and someone to smooth the practical friction.
Heritage itineraries
Isfahan, Shiraz, Persepolis and Yazd are among the great cultural journeys, and they are long road and air legs that reward planning far more than they reward improvisation.
Licensed guide requirements
Several nationalities may only travel with an approved guide on a pre-agreed itinerary. That is a legal requirement, arranged through a licensed agency, not an upsell.
Medical and elderly travel
Distance, altitude in the north and air quality in winter matter for older travellers. Planning includes hospitals, pharmacies and a realistic pace.
Cash, connectivity and paperwork
No working foreign cards, restricted internet, and paperwork that must be done in person. Most of the daily value we add is here rather than anywhere dramatic.
Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad: two airports, two different days
International arrivals land at Imam Khomeini, some forty kilometres south of the city, which means a real drive into Tehran at the end of a long flight and a genuine allowance for the return. Domestic flights use Mehrabad, inside the city and much closer to the northern districts. Confusing the two is the most common scheduling error visitors make, and it costs an hour and a half in each direction.
We meet arrivals with a named driver and, where appropriate, a representative inside the hall, hold the vehicle at an agreed point, count luggage before anyone moves, and carry the local currency the visitor will need on the first day, because there is no functioning card at the other end. Departures are planned backwards from a screening process that takes longer than most travellers expect.
Driving in Tehran, and the traffic zone
Tehran runs a controlled traffic scheme in the central districts: which vehicles may enter, and on which days, is regulated and enforced by camera, and a car that is not permitted for the day simply cannot make the journey. Beyond the scheme, the city climbs from south to north against the Alborz, the expressways are fast and busy, and motorcycles behave as a separate transport system with its own rules.
Our answer is a vehicle that is permitted for the days you need it and a driver whose defining quality is that he is calm. Journey times are planned against the hour rather than the distance, alternatives are held for the expressways that seize without warning, and the vehicle is maintained and insured properly, which is less common locally than it should be.
North Tehran, the business districts and the meetings
The northern districts, from Vanak and Zaferanieh up through Elahieh and Niavaran, hold the better hotels, restaurants and residences, and they are noticeably cooler and cleaner than the south of the city. Business happens across the centre and the north, and the working culture is relationship-led: meetings begin later than expected, run longer, and are rarely well served by a tight sequence of appointments.
We plan the working day with that in mind, with generous margins rather than optimistic ones, an interpreter where the meeting warrants it, and no discussion of a client's business in the vehicle. Where a visitor's presence is commercially sensitive, the hotel, the vehicle and the pattern of movement are all chosen to be unremarkable.
Hotels, residences and staying with family
Tehran's international-standard hotels are concentrated in the centre and the north, and they are used to foreign guests, registration requirements and the paperwork that comes with them. Booking is usually made through the local agency rather than through the international platforms most travellers use, because those platforms do not process Iranian payments.
Many of our clients here stay with family instead, which changes the work entirely: less about the building and more about the driving, the schedule and the discretion of the arrangements. In either case we handle registration and paperwork properly, and we keep the itinerary itself as controlled information rather than something circulated among a dozen people.
Cash, connectivity and the practical friction
Two facts govern daily life for a visitor. International bank and credit cards do not work anywhere in Iran, so the trip runs on cash brought in or arranged through the agency, and carrying cash is itself a security consideration that shapes where money is held and who knows about it. Second, internet access is restricted and inconsistent, so plans that depend on a live connection should have an offline version.
We plan both rather than discovering them. A daily cash arrangement that does not require the principal to carry everything, a local number and a working communications plan, printed itineraries and addresses in Persian script for drivers, and a clear line on which apps and platforms are unreliable in country. None of it is dramatic and all of it is the difference between a smooth week and a frustrating one.
The Alborz, the ski areas and days out of the city
The mountains start where the city ends. Darband and Tochal are on the northern edge, and the ski areas at Dizin and Shemshak are one to two hours away on mountain roads that are genuinely serious in winter. In summer the same roads carry weekend traffic to the Caspian, and the tunnels and passes north can be slow enough to consume an entire day.
For any leg out of the city we plan the vehicle for the season, communications that work where the phone network does not, a stated turnaround time, and a clear medical picture: where the nearest capable hospital is and how long it actually takes to reach it. In winter the decision to turn back is made against the clock rather than against how the weather looks from the car.
Onward: Isfahan, Shiraz and the heritage route
Most visitors who come for more than business continue south. Isfahan is a short flight or a long drive, Shiraz and Persepolis a little further, and Yazd and Kashan sit on the desert route between them. The distances are large, domestic aviation is the practical way to cover them, and each city has its own guides, its own access arrangements and its own rhythm.
These legs are planned as one programme with one point of contact rather than as separate bookings, and the national picture, the guide requirements and the visa position by nationality are set out on protection and secure travel in Iran. The handovers between cities receive the same attention as anything else, because that is where an improvised itinerary comes apart.
How a Tehran engagement is actually run
A named local coordinator, a vetted driver with a maintained and permitted vehicle, a protective escort where the profile calls for one, and a licensed guide or interpreter where the itinerary or the nationality requires it. Everything is arranged through licensed Iranian providers, and everything is agreed in writing before travel, including how payment is handled, because it cannot be handled locally in the normal way.
What we will not do is as important as what we will. We do not work with unlicensed operators, we do not accept engagements that fail compliance screening, and we do not tell a client that an itinerary is straightforward when it is not. Where we think a visit should not proceed as planned, we say so and explain why.
What governs an Iran engagement, stated plainly.
Sanctions compliance comes first. 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 use are largely unavailable. Every engagement touching Iran is screened before we accept it: the parties, the purpose, 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, and where the exposure is complex we will say that this is a question for your own legal counsel rather than for us.
On the ground, security services in Iran are 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 certain 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. We also advise every client to read their own government's current travel advice for Iran before committing to travel, and to take it seriously: several governments advise against travel altogether, and dual nationals in particular should take independent advice on their personal position before entering the country.
Seasons, and the weeks that change everything.
April to early June and late September to November are the comfortable windows in Tehran and the best time for both business and heritage travel. Summer is very hot on the plateau and in the desert cities, though the northern districts and the mountains stay tolerable. Winter is cold, brings snow to the Alborz and produces the pollution inversions that make Tehran genuinely unpleasant for anyone with a respiratory condition.
Nowruz, the Persian new year around 21 March, is the single most important date to plan around: the country effectively travels for two weeks, flights and hotels fill months ahead, roads are heavy and many businesses close. Religious observances and public holidays similarly change opening hours and traffic. We check your dates against the calendar before quoting, because in this country the calendar decides more than the weather does.
The answers you actually need before you book.
Compliance before scheduling
We need the purpose of travel, the parties involved and the intended payment route at the enquiry stage. Screening happens before anything is scheduled, and a failed screening ends the engagement rather than delaying it.
Nationality decides the plan
Entry requirements 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 in the party at the outset.
Settled before travel
International cards do not work in Iran and international transfers are constrained. Payment terms are agreed and settled before travel, in one currency, with nothing owed on the ground.
What you get in writing
The coordinator and driver, the vehicle and its traffic-zone permission, the guide where required, the covered hours, the itinerary as briefed, a named Algoz contact, the rate and exclusions, and the change 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 here than in most places we work.
When we say no
If we believe a programme cannot be run compliantly or safely, we say so and decline it. That is the most useful thing we can offer on this destination, and it is not negotiable.
"On some destinations the valuable advice is what not to do, and who not to do it with."
Protective Escort in Tehran
Share your dates, the party 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 Tehran costs.
A protective escort in Tehran 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. In practice the more valuable line items here are the vetted security driver with a maintained, traffic-zone-permitted vehicle, and the licensed guide or interpreter where the itinerary or the nationality requires one. Above the base: a second officer, female officers, long day-trip legs into the Alborz, and multi-city heritage routes.
Payment is settled before travel in one currency, because international cards and banking do not function in country and no client should be arriving with the expectation of settling locally. Multi-city routes are quoted as one programme rather than as separate days. Further reading: what a bodyguard costs and protection and secure travel across Iran.
Protection in related destinations.
Protecting celebrities & public figures
Actors, musicians, athletes, royals and the people the world recognises - celebrity protection is its own discipline: anti-paparazzi strategy, leak-proof operations, crowd and stalker management, and details that switch from red carpet to invisible in the same day.
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.