( CNN ) Words matter . Especially in Iran , where what is permissible -- to say , to do , to be seen as saying or doing -- is an ever-changing thing . It took us many years of trying to finally be allowed into Iran , the country with whom the United States has probably its most contentious relationship . At the time , we thought that perhaps our welcome was an indicator of a new attitude , an opening of a window . But as it turned out , that is probably not the case . The window appeared to slam shut in particularly ugly fashion shortly after our departure . What we saw , what we came back with , is a deeply confusing story . Because the Iran you see from the inside , once you walk the streets of Tehran , meet Iranians , is a very different place than the Iran we know from the news . Nowhere else I 've been has the disconnect been so extreme between what one sees and feels from the people and what one sees and hears from the government . Iran 's official attitude toward America , its policies , its actions in the region , are a matter of record . How it treats its own citizens , as far as their personal behaviors , also is a matter of record . You do not want to be perceived as behaving inappropriately in Iran -- as we have seen with the recent video of kids dancing along to the song , `` Happy . '' And what is inappropriate is an ever-shifting thing . What the `` government '' or the president says is OK one day might be deemed dangerous or unacceptable by the clergy or the `` basij '' , the roving , unofficial but official religious police , on another -- as we came to find out .
Anthony Bourdain explores an Iran few Americans have seen since the 1960s . ` ` What we saw , what we came back with , is a deeply confusing story , '' he says . There 's a stark difference in perception of the person versus the place .