Bromance Fading: Is Tehran Bazaar Shifting Stance On Regime Support?
Tehran’s Grand Bazaar has always supported the regime, but recent remarks from officials about its relocation hint at a possible shift in sentiment among the merchants.
Tehran’s Grand Bazaar has always supported the regime, but recent remarks from officials about its relocation hint at a possible shift in sentiment among the merchants.
Relocation is currently being deliberated at Iran’s crisis management headquarters by high-profile figures, including Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi as well as some Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) commanders, according to Tehran Governor Alireza Fakhari.
The Grand Bazaar of the capital played a key role in funding the 1979 Revolution, which reciprocated by allocating crucial positions in the government to certain Bazaar merchants, such as former Commerce Minister Habibollah Asgaroladi, Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rafiqdoust, and former prosecutor Asadollah Lajevardi, also known as "the butcher of Evin Prison" assassinated at his shop in the Bazaar in 1998.
Since then, the overtly close ties between the regime and the Bazaar have been apparent, but conflicting comments from some regime officials about relocating the premises indicate that the alliance may be unraveling.
With the September 16 anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of morality police approaching, Abolfazl Shekarchi, a deputy at the general staff of the armed forces, described Bazaaris on Saturday as the “officers of economic war,” urging them not to participate in strikes that could potentially erupt alongside possible nationwide protests.
The Bazaar's countless narrow arcades and passageways create a labyrinth that poses a challenge for security forces to manage in the event of a massive protest scenario. Situated in downtown Tehran, the Bazaar holds a strategic location not far from important governmental sites, and a large demonstration could easily spill into the rest of the city, endangering critical locations. Relocating the Bazaar might potentially disperse the concentration of various Bazaari factions and hinder a coordinated anti-government strike.
Advocates of relocation, such as Fakhari, primarily argue that safety concerns make relocation essential. Another supporter of relocation is city council member Ahmad Sadeghi, who recently stated that the Bazaar “cannot be secured and must be relocated.”
By invoking the "public safety" rationale, these officials present a relatively logical justification to dismiss the notion that the Bazaar's direction might be changing, particularly in light of recent incidents of fires breaking out in the 110-hectare marketplace. They also contend that the dilapidated infrastructure is suboptimal for commercial activities.
However, opponents of relocation cite the intricate ownership issues within the marketplace, which is partially owned by a large-scale, quasi-governmental charity organization. Mahdi Chamran, a city council member, has unequivocally stated that “the Bazaar is not relocatable,” while Ahmad Alavi, the council’s tourism committee chairman, has asserted that the premises are no longer at risk due to existing security measures.
Alavi outright rejected the proposal, deeming it a "complex and grand project, unlikely to yield any results.” He described relocation as an “impossible thing” lying "outside the jurisdiction of the city or any single organization." The reasons for some officials' opposition to relocation are unclear, but it's possible they are not receiving a fair share of profits that officials generate from such projects or that they have hidden interests.
A source in Tehran Grand Bazaar, whom we'll refer to as Kian to protect his identity, informed Iran International that officials are “not even capable of relocating” the marketplace, even if they intended to. He cited the regime's failure to rebuild the Plasco Building since January 2017, when the 20-story high-rise in central Tehran collapsed following a massive fire.
Kian, who owns a shop in the heart of the Bazaar, also points out the "astronomical prices" of shops and the ambiguity surrounding ownership in some cases, claiming that relocation could “cause chaos” in the entire Iranian market.
He also confirms that dissent has escalated among Bazaaris as they find it increasingly challenging to conduct business in the current political climate, particularly in the aftermath of the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
The Tehran Grand Bazaar seems to have gradually shifted toward political dissent since the 2017 protests, with shopkeepers and their staff participating in outbreaks of demonstrations and strikes that continue to this day.
While the exact strategies employed by officials to gain control over the Bazaar are not entirely clear, the Tehran mayor appears to be projecting an image of unity by adopting a middle ground. Alireza Zakani recently remarked that the consideration of transferring the marketplace "to another location in the city" is just that – a consideration – implying that it might not necessarily come to fruition.
Whether the regime decides to relocate the Bazaar or successfully executes such a plan, the ongoing discussion around this issue serves as a clear indicator of growing dissent within a historically influential political group that played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
