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Ask a travel insurer about Iran in 2026 and the answer is almost always no. Between government travel warnings, US sanctions and the war earlier this year, ordinary policies simply do not cover the country.
But that does not leave you uninsured for the whole trip. Most visitors now reach Tehran through Istanbul, Doha or Yerevan, and you can be properly covered up to the Iranian border. Inside Iran, there is the Iranian insurance that comes with your visa. Here is how the pieces fit together.
At a glance (November 2026)
- Standard UK policies: do not cover Iran while the Foreign Office advises against all travel there
- US insurers: cannot cover Iran because of sanctions
- Specialist high-risk insurers: have paused Iran cover for now
- On the way: you can be covered for Turkey, Qatar and Armenia
- Inside Iran: Iranian travel insurance, bought with your visa
In this guide
Why most policies say no. In the UK, the Foreign Office advises against all travel to Iran, and travelling against that advice normally invalidates a standard policy completely, including medical cover. In the US, sanctions bar American insurers from covering the country, which is why companies such as World Nomads, RoamRight and many others list Iran as excluded. Even the specialist insurers that exist to cover war zones and places the Foreign Office warns against have stopped selling Iran policies for the time being.
Policies also exclude “known events”. Once a conflict is in the news, new policies will not pay out for disruption caused by it.
Getting covered up to the border. The good news is that the hubs most travellers now use are open. The Foreign Office lifted its warning against travel to Qatar and the rest of the Gulf in June, and in Turkey it only advises against the area near the Syrian border, not Istanbul. Armenia is also fine apart from its border with Azerbaijan.
So you can buy a normal policy for the part of your journey outside Iran: the flights from home, your stopover in Istanbul or Doha, and any time in Armenia if you go overland. Travel medical plans from international brokers such as VisitorsCoverage and Insubuy cover travellers from most countries, and you can compare them online in a few minutes.
Compare travel medical plans →Compare plans on Insubuy →
Be completely open about your itinerary. Tell the insurer you are continuing to Iran. These policies will not cover you inside Iran, and some may refuse a trip that includes it at all, so ask them to confirm in writing which parts of your journey are covered. Never hide a destination to get a policy: it can void the whole thing.
Insurance inside Iran. Iran requires visa applicants to hold Iranian travel insurance, and in practice it is usually sold alongside the visa, online through visa agencies or at the visa desk at Imam Khomeini Airport. Policies come from Iranian insurers such as Saman, Iran Insurance and Pasargad. They are inexpensive, and Saman’s standard visitor policy covers emergency medical and hospital costs up to about €10,000.
That is basic cover, enough for treatment in a good Tehran private hospital, which is generally of a high standard and much cheaper than in Europe. It will not pay for an air ambulance home. Bring enough cash to pay a hospital up front, since foreign cards do not work in Iran (see our guide to money in Iran), and check the details in our visa guide.
Visiting family with an Iranian passport. If you enter on an Iranian passport you do not need a visa, so the visa insurance does not apply. Iranian insurers sell travel and health cover to anyone in the country, and family can often arrange it locally. For the journey there and back, the advice above still applies: get covered for the legs outside Iran and declare where you are going.
What to check before you buy.
- Government advice: check the current Foreign Office (or your own government’s) advice for every country on your route, on the day you buy
- Itinerary: declare Iran, and get written confirmation of what is covered
- Medical limits: make sure cover for your hub country includes emergency evacuation
- Disruption: expect delays and cancellations not to be covered if they stem from the conflict; claim delay compensation from the airline instead, for example through AirHelp
- Inside Iran: buy the Iranian visa insurance and carry the certificate
Planning the journey? See which flights are still running and our airport guide.
Header photo: Istanbul Airport, the main hub for travellers heading to Iran. Photo: Arne Müseler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
