Posted by @Mavro on MavicPilots.com on 8/30/2017 NOTE: In top 3 Google search results for "Mavic Iran"
NOTE: Original Post Was All In Bold
DO NOT TAKE YOUR DRONE, HELICAM, OR ANY OTHER FLYING DEVICES TO IRAN, THEY ARE BAN!!!!
Do not take your Drone, Helicam or any other flying devices to Iran, they are Ban!!! unless you have a permit before entering the country, it will be taken away if found in your luggage on arrival, and if you're lucky for them to miss it on arrival, they will take it away on departure going through security, trust me it's not worth the hassle after being through this for 5 days.
So I brought my mavic pro into Iran on Aug 20, 2017 thinking it would be a great place to take picures because of the beautiful scenery there. The big mistake (rokie mistake) I made was to not do my research before hand on bringing drone into country otherwise I would have seen where it would have be an issue, despite all my research when I was there, there is nothing saying it is ban from the country, but that's what some police said and that's what airport security are told, but some say you have to have a permit to fly it in the country, to save you the headache just leave it a home, because they will think you're a spy which is going to be a big mess explaining yourself, or you unknowingly fly near or over sensitive area for which they claim I did, and for which I didn't know because I was flying at a tourist attraction site. Even locals cannot take drone into the country they said.
So after 5 days of waiting, explaining why I was flying where I was flying and other questions, 3 different police stations, had my drone, Nikon 750 camera, memory cards, day bag searched, passport hold for 2 days because it was their weekend, I finally got everything back except for the memory card that was in the drone. So anyone else thinking of bringing thier Drone to Iran you might not be so lucky as I was, so I am very thankful I didn't end up in jail or didn't get back my drone. As one cheif said he would have given me 6 months in jail then immidate deportation, but he didn't. The country is very sensitive to spy, journalists, reporters, soldiers, etc so be very careful if you are in any of these professions .
Beside all that, I must say the Iranian police was VERY nice to me and treat me with the utmost respect, despite my situation and what could have happened to me, one even apologize to me for the trouble I have being through.
@Mavro Thank goodness you made it out okay. Any new drone adventures since?