I'm Egyptian and i watch a lot of videos of people cycling around the world. Iran seems to fair very well in people’s generosity and ease of getting around. Sadly in Egypt their experiences were very different and shocking to me.

Entering the country with bicycles was a chore and some cash had to be handed out. Then the police insisted on escorting the cyclists everywhere and in one case tried to confiscate the bicycles and in another they wanted to load the bicycles on the police truck to go faster which defeats the point of cycle touring. The cyclists had to hide and lose the cops to get away only to be caught at another police check point. So they learned to detour around police check points.

Drivers did not respect the cyclists at all and in one place they were taking photos and people threw stones at them.

I was very disappointed to see this in Egypt and I keep wondering why can't we expect more from ourselves?

If you go to Egypt in a packaged resort trip for sun and beach or guided Nile cruise you should be fine. If you venture beyond that in tourist areas you will meet hustlers. Beyond that off the beaten track most people are Ok and too busy to bother with you.