I've been to both KSA and Iran. I'd pick Iran any day of the week. Few places I've been have ever truly un-nerved me, but KSA was one of them. I was in Jeddah which is widely seen as the "least worst" part of KSA, and it creeped me the f*ck out. Iran, it felt like a pretty ordinary mid-eastern country. It didn't feel a world a way from eastern Turkey, or from Azerbaijan. As a western woman, I found Iran way easier to navigate and didn't feel out of my element. In KSA, I felt acutely out of place and loathed my time there - and I was *way* more afraid of their "liberal" authorities.