The American cyclist, who was trapped in Iran, talks about his tense escape, as Israeli bombs continued to fall.

A champagne bottle appeared on the Atlantic coast of Portugal in February, an American, 32 years old Ian Andersen He set out to fulfill his dream of cycling on all seven continents in the world. Plans to ride for 10 months, covering about 10,000 miles to reach its final destination in Japan.

However, he did not plan Israel to launch a war on Iran.

When he crossed to Iran on June 1, Andersen was full of excitement and anxiety.

He told CBS News on Thursday from a hotel room in the capital of Baku in Azerbaijan. “But I was immediately comfortable with many positive experiences from the people I met on the road … and generosity, and generosity.”

He said he was “surprised daily” through a curious Iranian who invites him to tea or give him food, and even tries to pay the price of his meal in a restaurant.

On June 13, this changed, when Israel began bombing Iranian nuclear and military sites.

Andersen said: “Not any external hostility, but I just read the language of people’s body and their expressions in the face.” “I knew that I was in great danger, because people saw Israel and the United States as linked to each other at that stage, as the bombs continued to fall and the amazing missiles continued.”

He and his local Iranian guide, Reda, decided to wander in a hospitality house, about 45 miles north of Tehran, in a village called Hargan, for two days.

Reda, who Andersen said he became his friend, advised him to avoid telling people as an American, and avoid talking to people at all if possible. But he said he retreated, and revealed his nationality to some local travelers who joined them at the hotel.

Andersen said: “They were not happy with the fact that they had to share a hotel with” that American “was there.

On June 15, Andersen heard an Israeli bomb exploding. On the same day, he received an email from the US State Department, and advised him to options for Americans who want to leave Iran, based on their current sites. He decided that his best bet was eight hours by car north, around the Caspian Sea, to reach Azerbaijan.

Soon and Riza were quickly poured into a fixed flow of traffic, as the residents were launched from Tehran. Gas stations passed with long lines of cars, and many military checkpoints.

“It was very horrific,” he said. “The idea to be withdrawn at one of the military checkpoints.”

“Reda, my guide, told me that he could no longer protect me, and this really shakes me, isn’t it? He is my guide. He is an Iranian guide, very stable, strong, reliable man,” well, this is the case.

Andersen said he became “more and more comfortable with our approach,” and in the end they made it without an accident on Iran’s borders with Azerbaijan.

But the most nerve part of that last day was about to start, as it was interviewed not once, but twice by Iranian officials-the regular border police and then the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

For the second interview, it was withdrawn from a crowd from the crowd and was transferred to the storage room in the temporary army barracks.

“This is where I was like,” well, I got a 50-50 chance to take either as a bargaining chip or for more interrogation. “In fact, the interview was like, less than a minute.

“I went out to the night to get my bike and then actually entered Azerbaijan, and I expected half of them to contact me. But they did not, and I managed to enter Azerbaijan.”

He was afraid of the online protection wall in Iran, he was able to send a message to his family in the United States before he was recorded in the first hotel he could find, then sleeps for 12 hours in relief and exhaustion.

Now he believed with the continued Israeli conflict Iran, Andersen said he is considering a lot about the potentially indirect influence of anyone with an American passport and travels abroad.

He said he recorded his travel line with the United States Foreign Ministry step programWhich sends the country’s notifications and updates based on the movements of the traveler. This is the way to go to Azerbaijan, and urges all Americans who travel abroad to do the same.

Andersen also said if it was not for his Iranian guide, then he may have not left the country. He hopes to raise money in favor of Reda and his family, who are still in Iran.

He also intends to continue riding his bike into Japan, to achieve his dream of riding all the continents of the world.