KEY POINTS:
Tell people you're about to board a flight to Tehran in Iran and there are three common reactions: The first is one of geographical confusion when they think you're going to Iraq; the second is one of absolute horror - usually couched in terms like "What on earth
do you want to go there for?" And the third, thank goodness is "Wow, you lucky thing".
The third response is sadly the most rare of the three. But, as I start to pack to head to Iran on Thursday (and I hope to keep you posted on my travels while I'm there) I know I am a lucky thing.
It's not surprising that people do tend to react in horrified fashion, Let's face it, Iran is a public relations disaster area.
To anyone who has not been there, the images that tend to spring to mind are pictures of bearded fanatics burning American flags, or hatchet-faced women in black chadors.
Add to that the best attempts of President George W. Bush to have us believe that Iran is a nation of terrorists with everyone assembling weapons of mass destruction in their basements and it's no wonder people think I've taken leave of my senses.
This will be my fifth visit to Iran and I am now used to the rather poignant conversations I have just about every day when I'm there.
They're with Iranians who are first of all delighted that somehow or other you've ignored all the dire negative publicity and come anyway and secondly want to know what the West really thinks of them. I often fudge the latter.
It's not that most Iranians don't already know what the answer will be, it's just that I find it so hard to upset them. I've spent a lot of time in Iran travelling with Iranians, living in their houses and they are the antithesis of what is often portrayed in the Western media.
I'm not so starry-eyed that I don't realise there is a murkier, more disturbing side to life in Iran and that there are despicable things done in the name of religion or politics. I can only speak of my experience with ordinary families and individuals.
I've also learnt to appreciate them as an intense, emotional people who are deeply sensitive to what the outside world thinks of them and who are far more interested in reading Persian poetry and going on picnics than creating nuclear bombs or destabilising the Middle East.
There's a fascinating juxtaposition in Iran; a tension between a people who have a deeply sensual approach to life - Iranians love their poets, eat ice cream flavoured with saffron and sprinkle rose water like rain - and a government that is trying to repress these deeply engrained national characteristics.
When US and Israeli leaders talk about striking Iran, these are the people who live under the missiles. Which is why I will keep going back to Iran so that there is one more voice speaking out against the stereotypes.
Because, once you stereotype a whole nation, demonise them in fact, it so much easier to condition the world to believe they are no longer men, women and children who are so very much like us and thus their deaths are somehow acceptable.
