aleph sikkiin answers the question i've been wondering about for the past few weeks. i'd heard that it was hard for americans to get a tourist visa to iran, but according to the chart here it's even harder for canadians, much much harder. (41% success rate for canadians vs. 88% for united statesians. everyone else has percentages in the 90s)1
AS says canadians have difficulty because of ken taylor, who helped six americans escape iran in 1979 by issuing them canadian passports. but it still seems a little odd to hold a grudge against someone for aiding the great satan more than the great satan itself.
chris points out that it could reflect the frosty relations since the 2003 murder of zahra kazemi. but that still doesn't seem like it would outweigh all the grievances the u.s. and iran have against one another. i mean, as bad as iranian-canadian relations are they're still not as bad as iranian-u.s. relations. (for example, this exists)
anyway, that doesn't mean that either AS or chris are wrong. but it's still strange. i guess i can't get over the fact that for once i'm actually better off not being canadian when i applying for a visa.
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1-except israel which is presumably 0%.
