Throughout its history, Mashhad has been governed by different ethnic groups. It was previously a small village, which by the 9th century was known asSanabad, and was located—along withTus and other villages—on the ancientSilk Road connecting them withMerv to the east. It would eventually outgrow all its surrounding villages. It gained its current name, meaning "place ofmartyrdom", in reference to theImam Reza shrine, where the eighthShia Imam,Ali al-Rida, is buried. The Abbasid caliphHarun al-Rashid is also buried within the same shrine. The shrine is an important place ofpilgrimage, visited by 2,5 millions each year in what is often described as "the holiest city in Iran".[16][20]
Mashhad later also became associated withFerdowsi, thePersian poet and author of theShahnameh, who was born in Tus (with many institutions in Mashhad named after him). Mashhad enjoyed relative prosperity in theMongol period, and continued to grow. Between 1736 and 1796, Mashhad became the capital ofAfsharid Iran which was ruled by theAfsharid dynasty founded byNader Shah,whose tomb is located in the city. In the modern era, Mashhad continued to expand and became the hometown of some of the most significant literary figures and artists of modern Iran, such as the poetMehdi Akhavan-Sales, and the traditional Iranian singer and composerMohammad-Reza Shajarian. On 30 October 2009 (the anniversary of Imam Reza's martyrdom), Iran's then-PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mashhad to be "Iran's spiritual capital".[21][22]
Ancient Greek sources mention the passage and residence ofAlexander the Great in this land, which was called "Susia" (Ancient Greek:Σούσια), in 330 BC.[23][24][25][26] The map ofTabula Peutingeriana, which dates back to the earlyRoman era, names this city on the west ofMerv, Alexandria, instead of Susia.[27]Pliny the Elder, says there is a city in the middle ofParthia, nearArsace andNisiaea, called "Alexandropolis" after its founder.[28] Many Muslim historians, from the 10th to the 16th century AD, attribute the founding of "Sanabad" (the old name of the city) to Alexander.[29][30]
Also in theShiahadith sources, which the narrators connect to the 7th to 9th centuries AD, there are quotations thatImam Ridha andHarun al-Rashid are buried in a city founded by "the righteous servant, the two-horned one", which is an Islamic title commonly attributed to Alexander the Great.[31][32][33][34]
The older name of Mashhad is Sanabad (سنابادSanâbâd). It was eventually renamed to Mashhad during theSafavid Empire. The name Mashhad comes fromArabic, meaning aMazar (mausoleum).[35][36] It is also known as the place whereAli ar-Ridha (Persian, Imam Reza), theeighth Imam of Shia Muslims, died (according to the Shias, was martyred). Reza's shrine was placed there.[37]
At the beginning of the 9thcentury (3rd century AH), Mashhad was a small city called Sanabad, which was situated 24 kilometres (15 miles) away fromTus. There was a summer palace ofHumayd ibn Qahtaba, the governor ofKhurasan. In 808, whenHarun al-Rashid,Abbasidcaliph, was passing through to quell the insurrection ofRafi ibn al-Layth inTransoxania, he became ill and died. He was buried under the palace of Humayd ibn Qahtaba. Thus the Dar al-Imarah was known as the Mausoleum of Haruniyyeh. In 818, Ali al-Ridha was martyred byal-Ma'mun and was buried beside the grave of Harun.[39] Although Mashhad owns the cultural heritage of Tus (including its figures likeNizam al-Mulk,Al-Ghazali,Ahmad Ghazali,Ferdowsi,Asadi Tusi, andShaykh Tusi), earlierArab geographers have correctly identified Mashhad and Tus as two separate cities that are now located about 19 kilometres (12 miles) from each other.
Although some believe that after this event, the city was called Mashhad al-Ridha (the place of martyrdom of al-Ridha), it seems that Mashhad, as a place-name, first appears in al-Maqdisi, i.e., in the last third of the 10th century. About the middle of the 14th century, the traveller Ibn Battuta uses the expression "town of Mashhad al-Rida". Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the name Nuqan, which is still found on coins in the first half of the 14th century under theIl-Khanids, seems to have been gradually replaced by al-Mashhad or Mashhad.
Terken Khatun, Empress of the Khwarazmian Empire, known as "the Queen of the Turks", held captive by Mongol army
Shias began to makepilgrimages to his grave. By the end of the 9th century, a dome was built above the grave, and many other buildings andbazaars sprang up around it. Over the course of more than a millennium, it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.[40] In 1161, however, theSeljuks seized the city, but they spared the sacred area their pillaging. Mashad al-Ridha was not considered a "great" city untilMongol raids in 1220, which caused the destruction of many large cities in Khurasan but leaving Mashhad relatively intact in the hands of Mongolian commanders because of the cemetery of Ali Al-Rezza and Harun al-Rashid (the latter was stolen).[41] Thus the survivors of the massacres migrated to Mashhad.[42] When theArab travellerIbn Battuta visited the town in 1333, he reported that it was a large town with abundant fruit trees, streams and mills. A great dome of elegant construction surmounts the noble mausoleum, the walls being decorated with colored tiles.[5] The most well-known dish cooked in Mashhad, "sholeh Mashhadi" (شله مشهدی) or "Sholeh", dates back to the era of the Mongolian invasion when it is thought to be cooked with any food available (the main ingredients are meat, grains and abundant spices) and be a Mongolian word.[43][44]
The map of the Persian Empire in 1747 at the time of Afsharid Dynasty. The name of Mashhad is seen belong Tous.
It seems that the importance of Sanabad-Mashhad continually increased with the growing fame of its sanctuary and the decline of Tus, which received its death-blow in 1389 fromMiran Shah, a son ofTimur. When the Kartid noble who governed the place rebelled and attempted to make himself independent, Miran Shah was sent against him by his father. Tus was stormed after a siege of several months, sacked and left a heap of ruins; 10,000 inhabitants were massacred. Those who escaped the holocaust settled in the shelter of the 'Alid sanctuary. Tus was henceforth abandoned and Mashhad took its place as the capital of the district.[citation needed]
Later on, during the reign of theTimuridShahrukh Mirza, Mashhad became one of the main cities of the realm. In 1418, his wifeGoharshad funded the construction of an outstanding mosque beside the shrine, which is known as theGoharshad Mosque.[42] The mosque remains relatively intact to this date, its great size an indicator to the status the city held in the 15th century.
Ismail I, founder of theSafavid Empire, conquered Mashhad after the death ofHusayn Bayqarah and the decline of the Timurid dynasty. He was later captured by theUzbeks during the reign ofShah Abbas I. In the 16th century the town suffered considerably from the repeated raids of the Özbegs (Uzbeks). In 1507, it was taken by the troops of the Shaybani or Shabani Khan. After two decades, Shah Tahmasp I succeeded in repelling the enemy from the town again in 1528. But in 1544, the Özbegs again succeeded in entering the town and plundering and murdering there. The year 1589 was a disastrous one for Mashhad. The Shaybanid 'Abd al-Mu'min after a four months' siege forced the town to surrender. Shah Abbas I, who lived in Mashhad from 1585 until his official ascent of the throne in Qazwin in 1587, was not able to retake Mashhad from the Özbegs until 1598. Mashhad was retaken by the Shah Abbas after a long and hard struggle, defeating the Uzbeks in a great battle nearHerat as well as managing to drive them beyond theOxus River.Abbas the Great wanted to encourage Iranians to go to Mashhad for pilgrimage. He is said to have walked fromIsfahan to Mashhad. During theSafavid era, Mashhad gained even more religious recognition, becoming the most important city of Greater Khorasan, as severalmadrasah and other structures were built beside theImam Reza shrine. Besides its religious significance, Mashhad has played an important political role as well. The Safavid dynasty has been criticized in a book (Red Shi'sm vs. Black Shi'ism) on the perceived dual aspects of the Shi'a religion throughout history) as a period in which although the dynasty didn't form the idea of Black Shi'ism, but this idea was formed after the defeat of Shah Ismail against the Ottoman leader Sultan Yavuz Selim. Black Shi'ism is a product of the post-Safavid period.
Mashad saw its greatest glory underNader Shah, ruler of Iran from 1736 to 1747, and also a great benefactor of the shrine of Imam Reza, who made the city his capital. Nearly the whole eastern part of the kingdom of Nadir Shah passed to foreign rulers in this period of Persian impotence under the rule of the vigorousAhmad Shah Durrani of the AfghanDurrani Empire. Ahmad defeated the Persians and took Mashhad after an eight-month siege in 1753. Ahmad Shah and his successorTimur Shah leftShah Rukh in possession of Khurasan as their vassal, making Khurasan a kind of buffer state between them and Persia. As the city's real rulers, however, both these Durrani rulers struck coins in Mashhad. Otherwise, the reign of the blind Shah Rukh, which with repeated short interruptions lasted for nearly half a century, passed without any events of special note. It was only after the death of Timur Shah (1792) thatAgha Mohammad Khan Qajar, the founder of the Qajar dynasty, succeeded in taking Shah Rukh's domains and putting him to death in 1795, thus ending the separation of Khurasan from the rest of Persia.
In 1911 Yusuf Khan of Herat was declared independent in Mashhad as Muhammad Ali Shah and brought together a large group ofreactionaries opposed to the revolution, and keep stirring for some time. This gave Russia the excuse to intervene and 29 March 1912 bombed the city; this bombing killed several people and pilgrims; action against a Muslim shrine caused a great shock to allIslamic countries. On 29 March 1912, the sanctuary of Imam Reza was bombed by the Russian artillery fire, causing some damage, including to the golden dome, resulting in a widespread and persisting resentment in the Shiite Muslim world as well asBritish India. This bombing was orchestrated by Prince Aristid Mikhailovich Dabizha (aMoldovan who was the Russian Consul in Mashhad) andGeneral Radko (aBulgarian who was commander of theRussian Cossacks in the city).[47] Yusuf Khan ended up captured by the Persians and was executed.
The modern development of the city accelerated under Reza Shah (1925-1941). Shah Reza Hospital (currently Imam Reza Hospital, affiliated with theBasij organization) was founded in 1934; the sugar factory of Abkuh in 1935; and theMashhad University of Medical Sciences in 1939. The city's first power station was installed in 1936, and in 1939, the first urban transport service began with two buses. In this year the first population census was performed, with a result of 76,471 inhabitants.[48]
In 1935, a backlash against the modernizing, anti-religious policies ofReza Pahlavi erupted in the Mashhad shrine. Responding to a cleric who denounced the Shah's heretical innovations, corruption, and heavy consumer taxes, many bazaars and villagers took refuge in the shrine, chanted slogans such as "The Shah is a new Yazid." For four days local police and army refused to violate the shrine and the standoff was ended when troops from Azerbaijan arrived and broke into the shrine,[49] killing dozens and injuring hundreds, and marking a final rupture between Shi'ite clergy and the Shah.[50] According to some Mashhadi historians, the Goharshad Mosque uprising, which took place in 1935, is an uprising against Reza Shah's decree banning all veils (headscarf and chador) on 8 January 1936.[citation needed]
Mashhad experienced population growth after theAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941 because of relative insecurity in rural areas, the 1948 drought, and the establishment of Mashhad University in 1949. At the same time, public transport vehicles increased to 77 buses and 200 taxis and the railway link with the capital, Tehran, was established in 1957. The 1956 census reflected a population of 241,989 people. The increase in population continued in the following years thanks to the increase in Iranian oil revenues, the decline of the feudal social model, the agrarian reform of 1963, the founding of the city's airport, the creation of new factories and the development of the health system. In 1966, the population reached 409,616 inhabitants, and 667,770 in 1976. The extension of the city was expanded from 16 to 33 square kilometres (170,000,000 to 360,000,000 square feet).
DuringWorld War II, Polish refugee children were admitted in Mashhad in March 1942 (see alsoIran–Poland relations).[51] After receiving food and medical care at a local hospital, the children were further evacuated to India.[51]
Mashhad Statue Sq. 1960s
In 1965 an important urban renewal development project for the surroundings of the shrine of Imam Reza was proposed by the Iranian architect and urban designerDariush Borbor to replace the dilapidated slum conditions which surrounded the historic monuments. The project was officially approved in 1968. In 1977 the surrounding areas were demolished to make way for the implementation of this project. To relocate the demolished businesses, a new bazaar was designed and constructed in Meydan-e Ab square (in Persian, "میدان آب")[48] byDariush Borbor. After the revolution, the urban renewal project was abandoned.
On 20 June 1994, a bomb exploded in a prayer hall of theshrine of the Imam Reza.[52] The bomb that killed at least 25 people on 20 June in Mashhad exploded onAshura.[53] ThePakistani terroristRamzi Yousef, aSunni Muslim turnedWahhabi, one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was found to be behind the plot.[54]
The city is located at 36.20º North latitude and 59.35º East longitude, in the valley of theKashafrud River nearTurkmenistan, between the two mountain ranges ofBinalood andHezar Masjed Mountains. The city benefits from the proximity of the mountains, having cool winters, pleasant springs, and mild summers.[citation needed] It is only about 250 km (160 mi) fromAshgabat, Turkmenistan.
The city is the administrative center ofMashhad County (or theShahrestan of Mashhad) as well as the somewhat smaller district (Bakhsh) of Mashhad. The city itself, excluding parts of the surroundingBakhsh andShahrestan, is divided into 13 smaller administrative units, with a total population of more than 3 million.[55]
Mashhad features acold semi-arid climate (KöppenBSk;Trewartha:BShk) with very hot summers, cold winters andMediterranean-like dry summer precipitation pattern[citation needed]. The city only sees about 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) of precipitation per year, some of which occasionally falls in the form ofsnow. Mashhad has wetter and drier periods with the bulk of the annual precipitation falling between the months of December and May. Summers are typically hot and dry, with average high temperatures exceeding 33 °C or 91.4 °F for three months. Winters are typically cool to cold and somewhat damper, with overnight lows routinely dropping below freezing. Mashhad enjoys on average just above 2900 hours of sunshine per year.
Snow cover had been observed in 21.1 days annually, with only 3.8 days in which the snow depth exceeds 0.10 metres or 4 inches.[56]
The highest recorded temperature was 43.8 °C or 110.8 °F on 6 July 1998 and the lowest recorded temperature was −28 °C or −18.4 °F on 3 February 1972.
Climate data for Mashhad (1991–2020, extremes 1951–2020; elevation: 999.2 metres or 3,278 feet[i])
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 2,410,800 in 621,697 households.[66] The following census in 2011 counted 2,766,258 people in 804,391 households.[67] The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 3,001,184 people in 914,146 households.[68]
The vast majority of Mashhadi people are ethnicPersians, who form the majority of the city's population. Otherethnic groups includeKurdish andTurkmen people who have emigrated recently to the city from theNorth Khorasan province. There is also a significant community of non-Arabic speakers ofArabian descent who have retained a distinct Arabian culture, cuisine and religious practices.
There are also over 20 million pilgrims who visit the city every year.[5]
Today, the holy shrine and its museum hold extensive cultural and artistic treasuries of Iran, in particular manuscript books and paintings. Severaltheological schools are associated with the shrine of the EighthImam.
The second-largest holy city in the world, Mashhad attracts more than 20 million tourists and pilgrims every year, many of whom come to pay homage to theImam Reza shrine (the eighthShi'ite Imam). It has been a magnet for travellers since medieval times.[5] Thus, even as those who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca receive the title ofHaji, those who make the pilgrimage to Mashhad—and especially to the Imam Reza shrine—are known asMashtee, a term employed also of its inhabitants. As an important problem, the duration when new passengers stay in Mashhad has been considerably reduced to 2 days and they prefer to finish their trip immediately after doing pilgrimage and shopping in the markets.[69] There are about 3000–5000 unauthorized residential units in Mashhad,[70] which, as a unique statistic worldwide, has caused various problems in the city.[citation needed]
Although mainly inhabited by Muslims, there were in the past some religious minorities in Mashhad. They were mainly Jews, who were forciblyconverted to Islam in 1839 after the Allahdadpogrom took place forMashhadi Jews in 1839.[71] They became known as Jadid al-Islam ("Newcomers in Islam"). On the outside, they adapted to the Islamic way of life, but often secretly kept their faith and traditions.[72][73][74][75][76]
Mashhad is Iran's second largest automobile production hub. The city's economy is based mainly on dry fruits, salted nuts, saffron, Iranian sweets like gaz and sohaan, precious stones.[citation needed] According to the writings and documents, the oldest existing carpet attributed to the city belongs to the reign of Shah Abbas (Abbas I of Persia). Also, there is a type of carpet, classified as Mashhad Turkbâf, which, as its name suggests, is woven by hand with Turkish knots by craftsmen who emigrated fromTabriz to Mashhad in the nineteenth century. Among other major industries in the city are the nutrition, clothing, leather, textiles, chemical, steel, metallic, and non-metallic mineral industries, construction materials factories, & the handicraft industry.
With more than 55% of all the hotels in Iran, Mashhad is the hub of tourism in the country. Religious shrines are the most powerful attractions for foreign travelers; as of 2015 every year, 20 to 30 million pilgrims from Iran and more than 2 million pilgrims and tourists from elsewhere around the world came to Mashhad.[77]
Unemployment, poverty, drug addiction, and theft are the most important social problems of the city.[78]
Thedivorce rate in Mashhad had increased by 35 percent by 2014.[79][80] Khorasan and Mashhad ranked the second in violence across the country in 2013.[81]
At the same time, the city has kept its character as a goal of pilgrimage, dominated by the strength of the economic and political authority of the Astan Quds Razavi, the administration of the Shrine waqf, probably the most important in the Muslim world[citation needed] and the largest activebonyad in Iran.[82] The Astan Quds Razavi is a major player in the economy of the city of Mashhad.[83] The land occupied by the shrine has grown fourfold since 1979 according to the head of the foundation's international relations department. The Shrine of Imam Reza is vaster than Vatican City.[82] The foundation owns most of the real estate in Mashhad and rents out shop space to bazaaris and hoteliers.[83] The main resource of the institution is endowments, estimated to have annual revenue of $210 billion.[84]Ahmad Marvi is the current Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi.
Padideh Shandiz International Tourism Development Company, an Iranian private joint-stock holding company, behaves like a public company by selling stocks despite being a joint-stock in the field of restaurants, tourism and construction,[citation needed] with a football club (Padideh F.C.; formerly namedAzadegan League club Mes Sarcheshmeh). In January 2015, the company was accused of a "fraud" worth $34.3 billion, which is one eighth of Iran budget.[85]
Several credit institutions have been established in Mashhad, including Samenolhojaj (مؤسسه مالی و اعتباری ثامن الحجج), Samenola'emmeh (مؤسسه اعتباری ثامن) and Melal (formerly Askariye,مؤسسه اعتباری عسکریه). The depositors of the first institution have faced problem in receiving cash from the institution.[86][87][88]
The city's International Exhibition Center is the second most active exhibition center after Tehran, which due to proximity to Central Asian countries hosts dozens of international exhibitions each year.[citation needed] Companies such as Smart-innovators in Mashhad are pioneers in electrical and computer technology.[citation needed]
The language mainly spoken in Mashhad isPersian with a variating Mashhadi accent, which can at times, prove itself as a sort of dialect.[89] The Mashhadi Persian dialect is somewhat different from the standard Persian dialect in some of its tones and stresses.[90][91]
Long a center of secular and religious learning, Mashhad has been a center for theIslamic arts and sciences, as well as piety and pilgrimage. Mashhad was an educational centre, with a considerable number of Islamic schools (madrasas, the majority of them, however, dating from the later Safavid period.[citation needed] Mashhad Hawza (Persian: حوزه علمیه مشهد) is one of the largest seminaries of traditional Islamic school of higher learning in Mashhad, which was headed byAbbas Vaez-Tabasi (who was Chairman of the Astan Quds Razavi board from 1979) after the revolution, and in which Iranian politician and clerics such asAli Khamenei,Ahmad Alamolhoda,Abolghasem Khazali,Mohammad Reyshahri,Morteza Motahhari,Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, and Madmoud Halabi (the founder ofHojjatieh and Mohammad Hadi Abd-e Khodaee learned Islamic studies). The number of seminary schools in Mashhad is now thirty nine and there are an estimated 2,300 seminarians in the city.[92]
TheFerdowsi University of Mashhad, named after the Iranian poet, is located here. TheMadrassa ofAyatollah Al-Khoei, originally built in the seventeenth century, is the city's traditional centre for religious learning. The Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, founded in 1984, stands at the centre of town, within the shrine complex.
Mashhad is also home to one of the oldest libraries of the Middle-East called theCentral Library of Astan Quds Razavi with a history of over six centuries. There are some six million historical documents in the foundation's central library. A museum is also home to over 70,000 manuscripts from various historical eras.
Central Museum of great Khorasan, Mashhad, next toKoohsangi
TheAstan Quds Razavi Central Museum, which is part of the Astan-e Quds Razavi Complex, containsIslamic art and historical artifacts. In 1976, a new edifice was designed and constructed by the Iranian architectDariush Borbor to house the museum and the manuscripts.
In 1569 (977 H), 'Imad al-Din Mas'ud Shirazi, a physician at the Mashhad hospital, wrote the earliest Islamic treatise onsyphilis, one influenced by European medical thought. Kashmar rug is a type ofPersian rug indigenous to this region.
During recent years, Mashhad has been a clerical base to monitor the affairs and decisions of state. In 2015, Mashhad's clerics publicly criticized the performance of concert in Mashhad, which led to the order of cancellation of concerts in the city byAli Jannati, theminister of culture, and then his resignation on 19 October 2016.
There are three influential newspapers in Mashhad, Khorasan (خراسان), Qods (قدس) and Shahrara (شهرآرا), which have been considered "conservative newspapers". They are three Mashhad-based daily published by and representing the views of their current and old owners:Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs,Astan Quds Razavi and Mashhad Municipality, respectively.[93]
TheIslamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization named Mashhad 2017's "cultural capital of the Muslim world" in Asia.[94] Several international events, especially entrepreneurs networking event entitled Entrepreneurs Show 2017, was organized by CODE International in collaboration with Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Khorasan Science and Technology Park, and city district government of Mashhad.[95]
Apart fromImam Reza shrine, there are a number of parks, the tombs of historical celebrities in nearby Tus andNishapur, the tomb ofNader Shah andKoohsangi park. The Koohestan Park-e-Shadi Complex includes a zoo, where wild animals are kept. It is also home to the Mashhad Airbase (formerly Imam Reza airbase), jointly a military installation housingMirage aircraft, and a civilian international airport. Khurshid castle, Vakil Abad Park, Miniature Park, Professor Bazima Science Park, Astan Quds Razavi Museum, Keshti Dome, Harunieh Dome, Bird Garden, Anthropology Museum or Mehdi Qolibek Bath, Mellat Park, Naderi Museum and Bread Museum They are other sightseeing centers of Mashhad.
Mashhad Mellat Zana Park
Some points of interest lie outside the city: the tomb of Khajeh Morad, along the road to Tehran; the tomb of Khajeh Rabi' located 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) north of the city where there are some inscriptions by the Safavid calligrapherReza Abbasi; and the tomb of Khajeh Abasalt, a distance of 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Mashhad along the road toNeishabur (the three were all disciples ofImam Reza).
Among other sights are the tomb of the poetFerdowsi in Tus, 24 kilometres (15 miles) distance, and the summer resorts atTorghabeh, Torogh,Akhlamad,Zoshk, andShandiz. The Shah Public Bath, built during theSafavid era in 1648, is an example of the architecture of that period.
As of 2015 it was connected to 57 destinations and had frequent flights to 30 cities within Iran and 27 destinations in the Central Asia, the Middle East, East Asia and Europe.[99]
The airport had a US$45.7 Million vast expansion project which finished by opening a new Haj Terminal with 10,000 m area on 24 May 2010 and followed by opening a new international terminal with 30000 m2 area with a new parking building, a new storage and cargo terminal, new safety and fire fighting buildings and upgrades to taxiways and equipment. Another US$26.5 Million development project for construction of a new hangar for aircraft repair facilities and expansion of the west side of the domestic terminal was underway using a BOT contract with companies in the private sector.[citation needed]
In April of 2025, Iran and Turkmenistan agreed to start a cross-border passenger train linking Mashhard and Merv, Turkmenistan's capital, with the goal of strengthening economic ties.[105]
Mashhad Urban Railway Corporation (MURCO) is constructingmetro andlight rail system for the city of Mashhad which includes four lines with 84.5 kilometres (52.5 miles) length. Mashhad Urban Railway Operation Company (MUROC)[106] is responsible for the operation of the lines. The LRT line has been operational since 21 February 2011 with 19.5 kilometres (12.1 miles) length and 22 stations[107] and is connected toMashhad International Airport from early 2016. The total length of line 1 is 24 kilometers and has 24 stations. the current headway in peak hours is 4.5 minutes.
The second line which is a metro line with 14.5 km length and 13 stations. line 2 construction was planned to finish in early 2020. The first phase of line 2 with 8 kilometers and 7 stations is started on 21 February 2017. On 20 March two stations were added to the network in test operational mode and the first interchange station was added to the network. On 7 May 2018, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took part in the inauguration ceremony of the first Mashhad Urban Railway interchange station, "Shariati", which connects line 1 and 2.[108] in 27 July shahid Kaveh station operation began and the length of the operational part of line 2 reached to 13.5 kilometers. On 18 November 2019 Alandasht station Began operative. Currently, line 2 operates every day with 13.5 km and 11 stations from 6 am to 10 pm, and the current headway is 10 minutes.[109] Currently Mashhad Urban Railway Operation Company (MUROC)[106] operates 2 lines with 37.5 kilometers length and 35 stations. Tunnel excavation of line 3 has begun and more than 14 kilometers of tunnel excavation is done using two Tunnel Boring Machines[110] and operation of the first phase of line 3 was expected to start in 2021. Tunnel Excavation of line 4 was going to start in summer 2019.[111]
Mashhad operates aBus Rapid Transit (BRT) system designed to improve traffic flow and mobility within the city. These lines provide direct transport to theImam Reza Shrine.
Astan Quds which controls the shrine- the tourism driver- is a wealthy tax exempt religious/political organization. It is recommended to reduce poverty in city a Bazaar be opened by poor people in a courtyard.[112]
Mashhad's current members of parliament are described as politicians with fundamentalist conservative tendencies, who are mostly the members ofFront of Islamic Revolution Stability, an Iranian principlist political group. They were elected to the Parliament on 26 February 2016.
Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi andAhmad Alamolhoda are two members of the Iranian Assembly of Experts from Mashhad. Hashemi Shahroudi is currently First Vice-chairman of theIranian Assembly of Experts.[113] He was the Head of Iran's Judiciary from 1999 until 2009 who upon accepting his position, appointedSaeed Mortazavi, a well known fundamentalist and controversial figure during President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's reelection, prosecutor general of Iran.[114] He was supported by Mashhad's reformists as the candidate of the Fifth Assembly on 26 February 2016.
Mashhad cycling track was introduced in 2011 as the most equipped cycling track in Iran; Car racing track, motorcycle track and motocross track, three skating rinks, ski track and equestrian track in Mashhad are other sports tracks in Mashhad. The first golf course in Iran is located in the Samen complex of Mashhad.[121][122]
Abolghasem Ferdowsi Pazh, author of one of the world's longest epic poems created by a single poet, and the greatest epic of Persian speaking countries
Iran Darroudi, born 2 September 1936 in Mashhad; Iranian artist
Javad Jalali, born 30 May 1977 in Mashhad; Iranian photographer and cinematographer
Mahdi Bemani Naeini, born 3 November 1968; Iranian film director, cinematographer, TV cameraman and photographer
Marshall Manesh, born 16 August 1950 in Mashhad; Iranian-American actor
Mitra Hajjar, born 4 February 1977; Iranian actress
Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, born 23 September 1940 in Mashhad; internationally and critically acclaimed Persian traditional singer, composer and Master (Ostad) of Persian music
Mohsen Namjoo, born 1976 in Torbat-e-Jaam; Iranian singer-songwriter, author, musician and setar player
Navid Negahban, born 2 June 1968 in Mashhad; Iranian-American actor
Noureddin Zarrinkelk, born 1937 in Mashhad; renowned Iranian animator, concept artist, editor, graphic designer, illustrator, layout artist, photographer, script writer and sculptor
Ovanes Ohanian, ?–1961 Tehran; Armenian-Iranian filmmaker who established the first film school in Iran
Pouran Jinchi, born 1959 in Mashhad; Iranian-American artist
Rafi Pitts, born 1967 in Mashhad; internationally acclaimed Iranian film director
Reza Attaran, born 31 March 1968 in Mashhad; Iranian actor and director
Reza Kianian, born 17 July 1951 in Mashhad; Iranian actor
Shahin Ebrahimzadeh-Pezeshki, born 1958 in Mashhad; Persian textile and costume art historian, historian of tribal costumes, textile artist, author, researcher and curator
Anousheh Ansari, born 12 September 1966; the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems, Inc., and a spaceflight participant with the Russian space program
Hossein Sabet, Iranian businessman and Persian carpet dealer who owns Sabet International Trading Co.
Mahmoud Khayami, born 1930 in Mashhad, Iran; Iranian born industrialist and philanthropist, of French nationality
Abbas Chamanyan, born 10 May 1963 in Mashhad, Iranian football coach, manager and former player
Abbas Golmakani, World's wrestling champion during the 1950s
Abolfazl Safavi, Iran professional football player for Aboumoslem team in Takhte Jamshid League. He was later executed in prison by the Iranian regime in 1982 for his affiliation with Iranian opposition, the MEK.
Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, born January 27, 1958; former Vice President of Iran and a close associate of former reformist President Khatami
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, born 23 August 1961 in Torghabeh, near Mashhad; the former Mayor of Tehran and current Speaker of Parliament
Mohammad-Kazem Khorasani, 1839–1911; Twelver Shi'a Marja, Persian (Iranian) politician, philosopher and reformer
Morteza Motahhari, 31 January 1919 inFariman – 1 May 1979; an Iranian cleric, philosopher, lecturer and politician
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, born February 1201 in Tūs, Khorasan – 26 June 1274 in al-Kāżimiyyah, near Baghdad; Persian of the Ismaili and subsequently Twelver Shī'ah Islamic belief
Nizam al-Mulk, 1018 – 14 October 1092; celebrated Persian scholar and vizier of the Seljuq Empire
Saeed Jalili, born 1965 in Mashhad; Iranian politician and the former present secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council
Seyyed Ali Khamenei, born 19 April 1939; former president and current supreme leader of Iran
Shahrukh (Timurid dynasty), August 20, 1377 – March 12, 1447; ruler of the eastern portion of the empire established by the Central Asian warlord Timur (Tamerlane)
Shaykh Tusi, 385–460 A.H.; prominent Persian scholar of the Shi'a Twelver Islamic belief
Sheikh Ali Tehrani, brother-in-law of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, currently living in Iran. He is one of the oppositions of current Iranian government.
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, born February 1201 in Tūs, Khorasan – 26 June 1274 in al-Kāżimiyyah near Baghdad; Persian of the Ismaili and subsequently Twelver Shī'ah Islamic belief
Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, 1135–1213; Persian mathematician and astronomer of the Islamic Golden Age (during the Middle Ages)
Ali Akbar Fayyaz, a renowned historian of early Islam and literary critic, founder of the School of Letters and Humanities at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Abusa'id Abolkhayr, 7 December 967 – 12 January 1049 / Muharram ul Haram 1, 357 – Sha'aban 4, 440 AH; a Persian Sufi who contributed extensively to the evolution of Sufi tradition
Anvari, 1126–1189; one of the greatest Persian poets
Asadi Tusi, born in Tus, Iranian province of Khorasan, died in 1072 in Tabriz, Iran; Persian poet of Iranian national epics
^Abbas Hajimohammadi and Shaminder Dulai, eds. (6 November 2014). "Photos: The Life of Afghan Refugees in Tehran". Newsweek. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
^Koepke, Bruce (4 February 2011), "The Situation of Afghans in the Islamic Republic of Iran Nine Years After the Overthrow of the Taliban Regime in Afghanistan", Middle East Institute. Retrieved 7 November 2014
^Onley, James.The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British in the Nineteenth-Century Gulf. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007,p. 15.ISBN0-19-922810-8.
Glazebrook, Diana; Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal (2007), "Being Neighbors to Imam Reza: Pilgrimage Practices and Return Intentions of Hazara Afghans Living in Mashhad, Iran",Iranian Studies,40 (2):187–201,doi:10.1080/00210860701269535,S2CID162335732
Zabeth, Hyder Reza (1999).Landmarks of Mashhad. Mashhad, Iran: Islamic Research Foundation.ISBN964-444-221-0.
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