By Raz Zimmt
On December 26, the spokesman of the Tehran municipality announced the cancellation of a decision, taken by the municipality a few days earlier, to rename Tehran's Behistun Street to “Martyr Yahya Sinwar Street.”
The street was named after Mount Behistun in western Iran, where the Behistun Inscription is located.
This multilingual inscription (in Babylonian, Elamite and Old Persian) was commissioned by King Darius I in 521 BC, and the mountain has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The decision to reverse the street name change came after harsh criticism from the public.
Critics argued that the city council's decision showed a lack of respect for Iran's rich cultural heritage and ancient civilization.
They said renaming the street, especially in honor of a Hamas leader who is not Iranian, undermines public trust, disregards citizens' feelings and ignores their desire to preserve their cultural identity.
Some critics argued that while Sinwar deserved to be commemorated in Tehran, it should not be at the expense of a street name that represents Iran's cultural heritage.
One of the prominent critics was Narges Soleimani, a member of the Tehran Municipal Council and daughter of former Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
According to her, the name “Behistun” represents a significant connection with Iranian culture and literature, and changing it is disrespectful to the united will of citizens to preserve their history and culture.
Street renaming in Iran often reflects efforts by different factions to shape collective historical memory according to their worldview, frequently sparking public debate.
Negative reactions to the proposed street name change in Tehran highlight the tension within Iranian society between Islamic religious identity and Persian national-cultural identity.
This also reflects a growing tendency among segments of the population to emphasize the pre-Islamic Persian element of Iranian nationalism as a counterweight to the state-promoted religious-Islamic identity.
The city council's decision to reverse the name change may indicate a greater willingness by Iranian authorities to take public opinion into account in an effort to bridge the gap between the regime and the broader population.
This trend, which intensified following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, was recently highlighted by the suspension of the hijab law (which was intended to impose severe penalties on women who do not adhere to dress codes) and the lifting of restrictions on WhatsApp and Google Play services by Iran’s Supreme Internet Supervisory Council last week.
Source: INSS – The Institute for National Security Studies