I have had the privilege of working and traveling for Greenpeace, meeting and
working with people in different countries and from different cultures and I have
been especially touched deeply by the people we have met in Iran.

Iran is a large and beautiful country and in the several visits, we have met
various representatives of NGOs, beaurocrats, politicians and in this most recent
visit to Tehran and Bushehr the extraordinary hospitality and generosity of the Iranians has really come home to me.

We have met hard-working and courageous individuals who either work or
mostly volunteer in local campaigning - and there are many such groups in Iran.
These deal with local community issues, employment, women, children and environmental issues and work tirelessly in raising awareness and campaigning.

The two key words, for me which describe Iranians are hospitality and
respect. They are among the most hospitable people that I have ever met. They have
welcomed us with genuine warmth, they have taken us into their homes and fed us, they
have organised meetings, discussed all sorts of issues and really gone out of
their way to ensure that each visit goes as sucessfully as possible. And this is not
just because we are from Greenpeace; hospitality is fundamental to Iranians.

I am also struck by the respect Iranians show to one another and to
visitors; there's a respect not just for elders or supervisors, but there is also a simple deep
respect between themselves which is quite extraordinary.

Bushehr, is a port city of about 200,000 people, is now known world-wide as
the place where the Middle East's first and, currently only nuclear power plant has
been built. Bushehr been a port for almost 5000 years. We met musicians, poets, the
Mayor, the local journalists and NGOs; we have had music played for us and a poem
written for us called Green on Green (we need to get it translated).

And that's something else about Iran and its people, they have an ancient
history and they are aware of who they are, where they have come from and the great
civilisations of the past. But the recent decades have been turbulent and often tragic.

Almost 70% of the population is under 30 years old largely as a result of the huge
number of people killed in bloody war with Iraq. One of our regular taxi drivers in Bushehrtold us of his 10 years spent as a Prisoner of War in Iraq. And yet nothing dims their hospitality, welcome and friendliness.

We have had such positive feedback from many people. A quote from one person sums it up - "I do have faith in Green Peace and its proposal and I am sure in
the near future things will turn out in a way that we could talk about these taboos openly."

They tell us that they speak from the heart here; well they have certainly
found a special place in my heart.