The proposed study focuses on the history of the reconstruction of the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, Iran over the past 40 years. Through a close examination of the shrine’s different incarnations and current reconstruction, the study examines the predicaments and challenges of negotiation procedures in order to investigate how state ideology recomposes the notion of sacrality through new forms of urban interventions and how such new forms reinvent the politics of a sacred state. The specific objectives are to decipher and analyze: a) How the different actors (State urban representatives, Clients, and Architects) engage in the process of reconstruction of the Shrine?; b)What does their engagement operate in the context of a Religio-Ideological political context of the country?; c)What is the impact of redefining notions of sacrality on conditions under which power and capacity to govern emerge? The Shrine of Imam Reza in the holy city of Mashhad is not only the most important site for Shi'a Muslims in Iran but also a landmark of political power in today’s Islamic Republic. Today, the shrine is under supervision by the Astan Quds Razavi, a charitable organization responsible for collecting funds and contracting urban and architectural firms for the shrine’s reconstruction. The main resource of the institution consists of endowments and donations from around the world, which give immense economic and political power to the head of the organization - a prominent member of the clergy, as well as a member of the "National Expediency Discerning Council" and the "Experts Assembly" of the leading jurisprudents appointed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. In my analysis, I will focus on analyzing the Islamic State through the institutions affiliated with the Shrine’s reconstruction. I propose using the tools of anthropological analysis to examine the practices and codes of power, and particularly the role of social actors in creating them. In the contemporary context of the Iranian state, using this method of examining power via margins of the State will ultimately lead to insights about the centers of power and their use of concepts of sacrality as political apparatus. Moreover, the study aims to demonstrate how the dynamics of urbanism can be understood as political arenas. This research will contribute to studies on Shi‘ism, nationalism, urbanism, and functioning of the modern state in the Middle East.