It is not easy to visit Iran these days – less than a thousand visas have been granted to Americans over the past 12 months. But with a sense that a new dialogue may be happening between this remarkable culture and the West, about a dozen CEOs from the U.S., U.K., and Canada with extensive experience in emerging markets persevered to take a closer look. We were secured in something of a bubble seeing sometimes what our guides, some explicitly working for the government, wanted us to see. Still, throughout our ten days this month in Tehran, the religious center of Qom and historic Kashan, Isfahan, and Shiraz, little of what we experienced was expected.