Sorry, post became a bit long.

Last July I started my trip from The Netherlands to Cape Town. I choose the east route through the Middle East because I wanted to visit Iran and I like east Africa. Plan is to cross into Africa with the ferry from Saudi Arabia to Sudan. When I left the Netherlands, this looked very possible.

When demonstrations in Iran started, I re-thought the route and searched for alternatives (I was in Greece that moment). The alternatives I found did (and don’t) seem to work. Egypt because of Carnet requirements I can’t comply with (30000 euros in the bank). I did have a look at Syria but I didn't find any recent information.

So, I decided to stick with the original plan to go through Iran. I got the Carnet from Adac and went to Ankara for my Iran visa.

When traveling east in Turkey things in Iran started to escalate a bit. I Changed my trip and went into Iraq Kurdistan to enter Iran as south as possible. That is where I am now (Sulaymaniyah). For now, I plan to cross the border with Iran tomorrow. The whole idea of thoroughly visiting Iran is gone and I will just go as soon as possible south to get the Ferry to the Emirates.

But I am not sure anymore. Yesterday I spoke with a nice guy in the hotel and he told me not to go to Iran. They will think I am a spy and put me in jail just because I am western. Sounds ridiculous but not the first time a hear or read this. He was pretty convincing. He also told me not to go to Iraq (in Kurdistan they consider Iraq a different country) as it is very dangerous. He advised me to go through Syria.

I still believe that me on a motorbike, clearly a traveller that can prove this with “polar steps” app and pictures, and will skip the cities and not being involved in any what is happening should be fine. Is there someone with real current knowledge of current Iran if this is correct? Is it possible to travel through Iran?

If Iran is really not an option I see 2 alternatives:

Iraq -> Saudi -> Sudan. Skipping a few countries and this means flying to Bagdad to get my visa. I need to check how this works with the bike.

Syria -> Jordan -> Saudi Arabia -> Sudan. I would prefer this route but there is very little information about Syria (Ioverlander app does not even have any info on Syria). Also, when riding in Turley near the border with Syria I saw the smoke of Turkish bombing (revenge from the terrorist attack in Istanbul a few weeks ago). I am not sure Syria is wise.
I feel a bit stuck now. Hope someone here can give some insight. Or maybe there is an alternative that I missed.