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I am at our hotel for siesta as I write. We have just returned from a full morning of activities for what we in the west would call an afternoon siesta. This delegation to Iran has a distinctly different flavor than my previous one. Our actions are more seriously constrained. The group, fortunately only eight people, must stay together at all times, and we are held to a strict schedule decided by our Iranian hosts. Even so, our Iranian guides are unfailingly pleasant and congenial, the hotels are comfortable, and we meet people along the way who are friendly and curious. And I am compelled to mention the pleasure of experiencing ancient structures and artistry, much older than anything found in the west.

In Tehran, we had morning meetings with Habib Ahmad Alvaradez and Mohammed Reza Sharafoddin of the Association of War Films, and then with Dr. Khateri and several members of the Society for Chemical Weapons Victims Support at the Tehran Peace Museum. In both cases our hosts were most generous in sharing their work and their ideas for creating a better, more humane, more just and peaceful world. Iran has suffered much pain from the Iran/Iraq war, which was started when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran shortly after the Revolution, and fought on their own soil to save their homeland. Many were killed and much of the population was traumatize... >>>