Poland’s Most Popular Travel Blogger Tells 193,000 Instagram Followers, “Iran is Safer than New York”

On Monday, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian explained how Tehran was further brutalizing its journalists through “sustained intimidation and surveillance.” In conversations with journalists inside Iran, Rezaian noted how Tehran was finding new, less overtly inflammatory methods to disable freedom of expression. “[W]hile the regime’s record remains consistently terrible, the tools and tactics of silencing journalists are becoming increasingly tailored to fit the digital age,” he wrote.

No censorship or silencing marred the publication of another article talking about Iran by another foreign-born writer.

On the very same day, Anna Karsten, “Poland’s most popular Instagram travel blogger,” offered a far sunnier take in the Tehran Times.  In an ‘op-ed’ titled “Is it safe to travel to Iran as a female solo traveler?,” the effusive ‘social media personality’ declared that Iran was “one of the safest countries I’ve ever been to” (and her friend agreed). Iran was even safer than New York City, she revealed, and “even the tap water is safe!”

Karsten is nothing if not consistent. Back in 2017, the intrepid Karsten urged her 193,000 Instagram followers, “Don’t listen to the media and visit places like #Iran.”

Instagram Post anna.everywhere

This popular “fake media” meme was echoed in her recent Tehran Times piece, as she warned, “Don’t believe what you hear on the news…” According to Karsten, even the U.S. travel advisory that American citizens may be harassed and subject to arbitrary arrest was “very exaggerated.” While similar advisories have been issued by dozens of other countries, including Australia, France, India, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland, clearly Karsten believes she knows better.

Karsten even lays some of the blame for Iran’s undeserving reputation at the feet of Ben Affleck, director and star of Argo, the Oscar-winning depiction of the 1979 hostage-taking during the Islamic Revolution.  Just like the U.S. warning against Iran travel, Argo was a “film exaggerating the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran…”

Exaggerated indeed. Tell that to Barry Rosen and the other 51 hostages held captive for 444 days by Iranian regime thugs.

Previously featured in the New York Times, CNN, Forbes, and the Travel Channel, Karsten paints a nauseatingly gushing picture of Iran in which hostage-taking, intimidation and arrests of dual nationals are simply part of an overstated Western media narrative. Presumably Jason Rezaian, who was himself held captive for 18 months by Iranian security forces, is contributing to these distortions.  

With recent trips to Syria and Yemen, Karsten is part of a growing legion of solo “adventure travel” bloggers monetizing the growing popularity for “war tourism.”  But rarely do they write such singular pro-regime propaganda published in leading state newspapers. With her article, Karsten is explicitly telling young, specifically female single travelers to ignore travel advisories, media reportage, and even historically accurate films, by venturing to Iran.

While the Iranian authorities were no doubt thrilled to have Karsten swanning around the bazaars taking luscious photographs of spice and flower stalls for their propaganda purposes – and then have her write a glowing article – not everyone who is encouraged to follow in her footsteps will be as fortunate. Let us hope Karsten’s followers read Jason Rezaian’s sobering analyses before taking the plunge.