Re-placing Women, Remaking the State: Gender, Islam, and the Politics of Place Making

In his meeting with members of Tehran City Council on January 13, 2014, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, praised Tehran Municipality for its expansion of green spaces, construction of new highways and bridges (facilitating transportation), and production of exercise and sports spaces. The leader stated that “despite hostile pressures from the World’s superpowers, and all the other kinds of pressures [we have been enduring], we can resolve the problems our country is facing and move forward.” Pointing out the existence of conflicting political views within the city council and alluding to rifts in the local authority-state relationship, he insisted that