The figure of 15,000 homeless people in the capital is so significant that it cannot be overlooked. According to the Deputy Head of the Anti-Narcotics Force, Tehran’s number of homeless people is at the top. Apart from the homeless, some of whom are chronically mentally ill or people who have abandoned home for any reason and never returned, a large number of this population is addicted to drugs. Many of these are counted as high-risk addicts due to long-term drug abuse as well as illnesses such as AIDS and hepatitis. 
During the winter, about a thousand homeless are collected from the city on a daily basis, and these people are transferred to homeless care centers, or “shelters” and “warm-houses.” In the last decade, the establishment of these places in Tehran has been a way to support this vulnerable group of society and provide a basis for empowerment and assistance to the poor and homeless.

Although, during these years, Tehran Municipality has provided conditions for the construction of shelters so that the homeless can eat at least one meal a day and take a bath, this is not the only measurement that the responsible organizations can do to improve the living conditions of these people.
A look at the current situation of shelters, which are often crowded in the hours close to sunset and are filled with more than the capacity and number of beds, shows that the current capacity of Tehran shelters is far less than the actual number of homeless people. 

This collection narrates the story of a number of homeless people going to the Khavaran shelter in Tehran.


 Homeless Shelter in Tehran

According to Iran Drug Control Headquarters, Iran has about 60 thousand ostentatious addicts. In 2009, it was said that each year, 130,00 new people become addicted to drugs in this country of 70 million people. Over a six-year period, a half million people received treatment in a drug program. It is not known how many of these people successfully found drug-free lives in these treatment centers. One of the main rehab camps (detox and recovery) in Tehran is "Ziadian”. This camp has been operating in 6 sections with about 500 person capacity and is supposed to get to 5 thousand capacity for the year 2021.

Rehab Camp

The “Burning Tent Ceremony” at noon of Ashura is one of the ancient rituals of Muharram. In this ritual, tents set up in the color of black, white, or green on the tenth day of Muharram are ignited.In this ceremony, the last moments of Imam Hussain's farewell to his family, and then parts of how Imam Hussain was martyred, and then the burning of the tents of Imam Hussain and his companions by Omar Saad's army, and at the end, the capture of Imam Hussain's family and the family of Imam Hussain's companions. Most of the time, mourners for Imam Hossein take pieces of the remaining cloth as consecration. The origin of this ritual in Iran goes back to the Safavid era (1501-1736 AD).The following photo collection is a narration of the burning tent ceremony in Tehran on September ‎30, ‎2017.

Amir Salehi

Amir Salehi

The Burning Tent Ceremony