The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Representation of Reza Shah’s Authority in the Memorial Landscape of Pahlavi-era Cities: A Case Study of Reza Shah Square in Dezful

https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2025.527314.5834
Volume 22, Issue 150
December 2025
Pages 15-24
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Lotfali Kozehgar kaleji 1
Ahmad Zanganeh 2
Reza Ahmadi 3
Aliasghar Adinehvand 2

1 Human Geography & Spatial Planning Department, Earth Sciences Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Yazd University, Iran

Abstract
Problem statement: Reza Shah Square and its equestrian statue in Dezful were among the numerous commemorative spaces constructed during the Second Pahlavi era in urban centers across Iran. This study posits a central research question: Can these squares be interpreted as deliberate assertions of the Pahlavi monarchy’s presence, authority, and legitimization within the contemporary urban fabric? If so, through what mechanisms was this achieved?
Research objective: This study critically examines the role and significance of Reza Shah Square in Dezful, analyzing its function as a monument of legitimization and an instrument for the consolidation of political power.
Research method: Employing a textual analytical approach, the study examined Reza Shah Square with particular attention to its intertextual relationships with the surrounding urban context. This memorial landscape was further analyzed through the methodological lens of iconography to decode its symbolic content.
Conclusion: Through comparative analysis, this study identifies a potent correlation between the qualities ascribed to Reza Shah by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah, and the semiotic features embedded within Reza Shah Square. It argues that the production of an authoritative image of Reza Shah during the latter’s reign constituted a strategic response to the young Shah’s imperative to establish his own authority and public acceptance. This was accomplished by leveraging the public memory and symbolic capital of his father. This process is conceptualized as “borrowing authority,” whereby, in the early decades of his rule, the Second Pahlavi Shah repurposed Reza Shah squares into central loci for his own legitimization, crafting a narrative that aligned with the immediate political exigencies of the time.

Keywords

Reza Shah&‌‌‌‌rsquo
s statue
Representation
Political authority
Memorial landscape
Legitimization
Pahlavi era
Urban space.
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