IRANIAN BEHAVIOR
Iranian people are very curious about foreigners. They have three main questions that they want to ask visitors right away, and they usually go in this order:
Where are you from?
What is your religion?
What do you think about Iran?
They just want to make a relationship with foreigners. Persians are very kind, friendly and very hospitable people, respect and warmth to every guest visiting their household. You may be overwhelmed with the warmth, affection and the amount of food and drink that you will be showered with when invited to a Persian home. Ladies should remember that, not to shake hands with Iranian men unless they initiate this. Instead, place your hand over your heart as a greeting. Very conservative Muslims may avoid shaking hands or kiss unrelated individuals from the opposite sex. At the same time it is well accepted for the individuals from the same sex to kiss on both cheeks, hold, embrace and hug each other whether they are related or not. Iranians are very conscious about the way they dress and on the whole they dress well and dress codes are very important in distinguishing modern and traditional groups. Iranians party a lot, are great entertainers and are known for their hospitality and generosity at such occasions. People are anticipated to behave politely at parties, being loud is considered inappropriate unless people know each other very well. People stand up when new guests arrive except with the elderly who will remain seated and sometimes women will only stand up when other females arrive. Guests are constantly served with some edible item, tea or drinks and the host mainly the lady of the house (sometimes daughters too) has the task of serving and refuse to take no for an answer and insist that guests should have what they are offered. This is a very popular etiquette and is known as Taarof. Guests are not obliged to eat everything they are offered and can politely insist on refusing. Taarof has other implications at other circumstances and can be very confusing. People may insist that they will do such and such for you and they might not mean it at all. This is also called Taarof, or if you admire something in their house, they will offer it to you repeatedly and again this is just Taarof and they do not mean it. There are no set rules but if one is not a very close friend or a close family member most of what Iranians say or offer is very likely Taarof and one should politely thank the person and refuse the offer.