In March 1922, the government's interior ministry, then non-religious, organized a partial roundup of prostitutes and assembled them in Shahr-e No, an area close to the citadel.
Tehran's other prostitutes joined them in the next eleven years, then Shahr-e No was circled with a 2.50 m high brick wall, with women being forbidden from leaving this area.
At this time the area sprawled over 13 ha and hosted 1500 women, 753 street sellers, 178 shops and two theaters.
The next year after Ayatollah Khomeini emerged as the Supreme Leader of Iran, the government demolished the red light district and flattened it with bulldozers, only leaving a barren area.
[4] Only rare witness accounts remain, such as the photographic series The Citadel by Iranian photojournalist Kaveh Golestan.