Lyse Doucet

Iran is one of the most hospitable places in the world. And Iranians are also among the most inventive people I have had the pleasure to spend time with. Please don't see it as a dark and hostile place. There are different views about the world, but it doesn't want to turn its back on the world.

thank you for all your questions and concerns...they are very important. My journalism at the BBC has been spent outside Britain, and often in areas of conflict...I cannot remember a single time where I have been told to report in a certain way or to give more credence to one side or another. I tend to be cautious in my reporting, and try to talk to as many people from as many sides as I can find.. On the London-centric point, I think the BBC is aware of this point and has been moving some of its studios and journalists away from London to better reflect views and voices from across the country.

Greetings to all redditors, wherever you are..and if you are Iranian, or Persian speaking, I hope the New Year (Nowruz) brings many blessings to you and yours..we should all be Persian and take this chance of a new beginning !

Life has its risks, wherever you are. A very good colleague spent years covering conflicts in the Middle East and then moved to New York and was run over by a bus.. fortunately, he survived. Being pursued by helicopter gunships in Afghanistan in the early 90's is an experience I won't forget..

Women's issues have always been at the heart of Iranian politics since the 1979 Islamic revolution. There have been advances in some areas including access to education including at University level, information and access to birth control, availability of some jobs, but not others. Women are still barred from many high level positions. Many women are hoping for greater freedoms after last year's election of the reformist President Rouhani. But, like most Iranians, they are also just hoping that sanctions will be lifted and their daily lives will improve...

The Persian language is music to the ear - whether its Farsi or Dari or Tajiki.. I speak a little bit..although Iranians notice my Afghan expressions, and Afghans notice my Iranian turns of phrase.. Being more fluent in this language is one of my personal goals.. Most of my languages come down to "courtesy & comedy." - enough to have a conversation and share a joke.. Humour is the most important language - everywhere !

Iranians are sometimes justifiably upset when we imagine they are somehow different from the rest of us. There is a very lively music scene, the fashion is fab (Iranian women even develop glamourous hair styles for their head scarves), Iranians of all political views are on the internet, talking to themselves and to the world. But they would like their restrictions to be lifted, and to have more freedom to come and go.

I was suprised by how widely used the internet was including social media. Iranians are very inventive. They've found ways around the blocks on sites like twitter and facebook. To my relief, I was able to access my email account and use twitter. And Iranians, of all political persuasions, quoted my posts .

Nowruz mobarak to you ! May it bring you many blessings! Gratefully, I have never felt under pressure to report in a certain way...or,as you put it, an angle... If anyone ever told me to report the news in a "dishonest" way I would have to take issue with them.. I often say I can only report what I see, and what I hear...and try as hard as possible to hear and see as much as I can..thank you - kheili mamnun!

wow.. well, as they say..it's never too late to be the person you want to be..!