I submitted itineraries previously, but they were fabricated and I just put hotels down from a guidebook. If you do this, there is no reason for it being more expensive.
Touranzamin came back to me and said that there would not be a guide, it would just involve extra paperwork for them. Knowing Iranian borders, each seem to have different rules. I was once given a transit document (despite having a tourist visa) that I had to get stamped at every point along a pre-determined 15 day route. I just binned the thing and exited 3 months later without a problem.
Yes, you can do it without a carnet, you have to pay for some Iranian customs document. A friend of mine did this at the Mirjaveh border and paid $400 for it. Husseinthebiker (if I have spelt his name correctly) advertises on the ThornTree that he can assist in getting one of these customs documents at the Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmenistan borders. There may be issues with how long the import document is valid for, best contact Hussein about this.
I would definitely think twice about skipping Iran, it is a fascinating country quite unlike any other in my opinion.
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