BUILDING A BROTHEL CITY: REZA SHAH OF IRAN'S SOCIAL AND HEALTH POLICIES (1926-1945) Once the power of Reza Shah was consolidated, he undertook a broad program of reform and modernization part of which directly related to public health. Among these were birth control and sexually transmittable diseases. The government took the initiative to construct a Brothel City (Shahr-e Now) in Tehran and to accommodate sex workers in a particular compound where they could be under close medical observation. While the government’s overall policy of supervising the Brothel City (Shahr-e Now) did help in reducing transmittable diseases; to the critics of the regime Reza Shah’s actions were efforts to enhance prostitution within a Shi’a state. Reza Shah’s commitment to a policy of centralization and mandatory military conscription gradually forced the government to face other more serious concerns. One such main issue was the sudden surge in the population of Tehran, caused foremost by an inflow of migrant population. With Tehran serving as a distribution point for the recruitment and transfer of soldiers, the size of Tehran’s red light district flourished. This further increased the health hazards of a hustling city with numerous communicable diseases. While poverty and harsh economic conditions was a prime cause that led many women to live in the Brothel City and engage in prostitution, the very fact that prostitution was declared illegal was a major drawback, preventing the government from providing proper care and action for those in need of medical care. The abuses of sex workers, long hours with low pay were issues over which the government had little supervision or control. At the beginning of World War II and the occupation of Tehran by the Allied Forces, the problem of the Red Light district was once again pushed into the foreground. The presence of Allied troops added further to the underlying tensions as well as to the spread of sexually transmittable diseases, particularly among foreign military forces and their interaction with the local community. The problem of Tehran’s Brothel City which at the beginning was associated with public health gradually shifted grounds and became a social enigma. Elements leading to the containment of prostitution, and the government’s policies towards prevention, cure, and rehabilitation of its residents from 1926 to the end of WWII are the primary objectives of the study.