I am planning a trip trough Iran in June. While for the most of Iran it seems clear that it's a very welcoming country and safety is not an issue, when it comes to the south and southeast, information becomes a bit contradictory, so I am turning to you for opinions and guidance. I am planning a month long trip to Iran, coming in from Armenia and hoping to go all the way to Chabahar and then back, exiting trough Iraqi Kurdistan.
After doing the north and middle of the country, my route would take me from Yazd to Kerman , then Bam, Iranshahr and then Chabahar I've heard there is a bus between Iranshahr and Chabahar and maybe Beris.
From there I plan to hitchhike I understand there is no bus to Bandar Abbas, spend a bit of time on the islands, then head to Shiraz , Ahwaz, Khorramabad and Kermanshah, before exiting trough Marivan. On this forum, and other similar ones, I've seen mixed opinions about going to Bam, about going to Chabahar and of course, about hitchhiking south of Yazd and even south of Shiraz. Not to even mention my foreign affairs ministry travel advisory which advises against all travel to Sistan and Baluchistan and to Hormozgan.
On the other hand, I've seen a few blogs from people that went there, had a great time, hitchhiked even with smugglers and encountered no safety issue whatsoever. How safe is my proposed itinerary, both in the south and in the west, nearer to the Iraqi border? If they are not safe, can somebody explain why, because this is the part that no one managed to explain to me with more specifics.
What are the risks? Kidnapping, robbery? Where would those risks come from, smugglers, extremists groups or just poor people trying to make a quick buck? I hope I gave enough details and hopefully you'll help me make an informed and relatively safe decision. If there are any things I didn't mention and would help you give me a more complete answer, please let me know.
