TEHRAN – Tehran Municipality has launched a new tourism initiative centered on the city’s mosques, with an initial pilot phase implemented at five sites, Amir Ghasemi, head of the municipality’s tourism headquarters, said on Tuesday.

According to Ghasemi, the project involves designing cognitive tourism routes, building cultural connections with target countries, and producing multilingual content. He said the initiative aims to present Tehran as a cultural and spiritual city on the global stage.

“Mosques can become one of the main pillars of Tehran’s cultural brand at the international level,” Ghasemi said, adding that all urban tourism capacities should be used to strengthen the city’s cultural and social image nationally and globally.

Hamed Forouzan, head of Iran's Tourism Development Institute, also elaborated on the project’s goals, saying that [some of] Tehran’s mosques possess historical, artistic, and architectural potential to showcase the capital’s authentic identity worldwide.

“In the first stage, five prominent mosques from different districts of Tehran have been selected as pilot sites to establish cultural links with well-known mosques in other countries,” Forouzan said.

He described the initiative as part of a broader effort known as cognitive tourism, designed to provide visitors with an experience beyond sightseeing, focusing on understanding spirituality and Iranian-Islamic identity.

According to Forouzan, the program will include cultural meetings, cognitive tours, and virtual exchanges between cultural and religious actors.

“In a world where vast sums are spent to project a distorted image of Iran, the best response is to offer a genuine experience of Iranian culture, ethics, and art,” Forouzan said. “Tehran’s mosques can serve as symbols of Islamic thought and aesthetics and play an effective role in reshaping the city’s global image.”

AM