Revolutionary charitable foundations and politics of land acquisition and land conflict in peri-urban areas of Tehran

Source abstract

This paper examines the role of Islamic revolutionary charitable foundations in shaping land governance and conflict in the peri-urban areas of Tehran, focusing on the contested settlement of Ozun Tapeh. Drawing on fieldwork and secondary sources, including planning documents, official newspapers and municipal reports, the study explores how these foundations operate at the intersection of formal state institutions, informal land claims, and religious—political networks. It highlights how they leverage Sharia-based legal interpretations, political influence, and spatial strategies to assert control over land and influence urban development. Through the case of Ozun Tapeh, the paper demonstrates that land conflicts in Iran are not solely the result of state failure but are shaped by strategic negotiations and deal-making among municipalities, foundations, private developers, local religious authorities and communities. These interactions dissolve conventional boundaries between public/private and formal/informal, while contesting notions of legality and justice in urban governance. By centring religious-political actors in land political and moral economy, this research challenges their conventional framing as welfare providers or extralegal entities, instead positioning them as central to hybrid governance systems. The findings call for rethinking religious institutions’ role in Middle Eastern urbanism, particularly their dual engagement with neoliberal development and Islamic redistributive rhetoric.