Abadan rewards the traveller who comes ready to look and reflect rather than to tick attractions off a list. There are no ancient ruins, no celebrated bazaars. What there is: the strange industrial landscape of one of the world's great refineries, the visible wounds of a devastating war, a handful of buildings from the oil-era when Abadan was a cosmopolitan city unlike anywhere else in Iran, and a few genuine historical sites that repay a half-day of unhurried walking.
Foreign visitors are rare and you will attract attention — generally curious and friendly rather than hostile, though sensible caution applies to any border region in Iran.