The history of Freemasonry in Iran represents one of the most captivating and understudied chapters in the chronicles of this ancient land. More than two hundred years ago, when Europe was experiencing the Age of Enlightenment and the Persian Empire of the Qajar dynasty was seeking paths to modernization, a movement was born on Iranian soil that was destined to exert colossal influence on the country’s political fate, only to vanish in the flames of the Islamic Revolution.
The first threads linking Persia to Freemasonry stretched through India. In the memoirs of Mir Abd al-Latif Shushtari, who died in 1805, we find remarkable lines about how among the Persian-speaking inhabitants of India, Freemasonry became known as “faramushi” — oblivion. This word could not have better reflected the essence of the organization, whose members answered any question about their activities with: “I cannot remember.” It was from India that the terms “faramushi” and “faramush-khaneh” — house of oblivion — migrated to Persia, where they were destined to become symbols of the movement for enlightenment and constitutional monarchy.
Curiously, the first Persian to encounter Freemasonry on European soil resolutely rejected the offer to join this organization. Mirza Abu Taleb Khan Isfahani, who was in London from 1800 to 1802, was so shocked by the “riotous and licentious proceedings” he witnessed among the Masons that he categorically refused initiation. A completely different reaction was shown by Askar Khan Afshar, Fath-Ali Shah’s envoy to France. In 1808, he became the first Persian to accept Masonic initiation, with the ceremony taking place in the mother lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite in Paris in the presence of Regnault de Saint-Jean d’Angély himself, Napoleon’s minister of state.
This diplomatic precedent opened the door for an entire succession of Persian aristocrats and statesmen who saw in Freemasonry not merely a secret society, but a bridge to European civilization and progressive ideas. The British quickly followed the French example: as early as 1810, Mirza Abu’l-Hasan Khan Ilchi Shirazi, ambassador to London, received an offer to join a lodge from Sir Gore Ouseley, his official patron.
A particularly significant event was the initiation of three Qajar princes in 1835. Rezaqoli, Najafqoli, and Teymur — sons of Hosayn-Ali Mirza Farmanfarma, who had unsuccessfully sought the throne after Fath-Ali Shah’s death — were brought to England by James Fraser and solemnly admitted to a London lodge. Their detailed diary entries have preserved for us a vivid description of Masonic ceremonies: “Here we had the honor of joining the Lodge, where all of us received our first degree in this most noble society. Every person who desires to become a member must be above the age of twenty-two years. No slave, nor woman is admissible. A freemason may take the three first degrees of Freemasonry within a year and a half, and a fourth after that period has elapsed.”
The true father of Iranian Freemasonry was Mirza Malkam Khan — a figure as controversial as he was influential. This Armenian by birth, who adopted a Muslim name and title, was educated in France and became a passionate advocate of European Enlightenment ideas. Returning to Iran in the late 1850s, he became fired with the idea of creating an organization that could serve as a conduit for Western reforms in traditional Persian society.
In 1859, with the consent of Naser al-Din Shah himself, Malkam Khan founded the “Faramosh Khaneh” — the first secret society on Iranian soil, built on the model of European Masonic lodges. Meetings were held at the house of Qajar Prince Jalal al-Din Mirza, but were led by Malkam Khan himself. The society’s program included ten fundamental principles: recognition of human rights, security of persons and property, security of honor, equality of all before the law, recognition of merit, accountability of officials, freedom of trade and association, and meritocracy.
Malkam Khan possessed an amazing talent for political organization and a deep understanding of Iranian society. In a short time, he managed to attract people from the most diverse social classes — from graduates of the new technical school Dar ul-Funun to representatives of the highest nobility. Among the members of Faramosh Khaneh were prominent politicians, students, and even liberal clergy like Seyyed Sadegh Tabatabaei. In an atmosphere lacking any legal forms of political activity, this society became the only platform for discussing pressing issues: the fight against tyranny, the establishment of legality, economic reforms, the causes of Iran’s backwardness, and the secrets of Western progress.
However, the success of Faramosh Khaneh became its downfall. When rumors reached the Shah that society members were discussing the possibility of establishing a republic headed by Prince Jalal al-Din Mirza, Naser al-Din Shah flew into a rage. In 1861, Faramosh Khaneh was closed and Malkam Khan sent into exile. Nevertheless, the seeds sown by this organization bore fruit several decades later, when many former members of the society played key roles in the Constitutional Revolution.
After a forty-year hiatus, Freemasonry returned to Iran in a completely new guise. In 1907, Malkam Khan’s disciple Abbasqoli Khan Qazvini Adamiyat attempted to revive the movement by founding “Majma-e Adamiyat” — the League of Humanity. However, true revival occurred a year later when, on April 21, 1908, Lodge “Bidari” or “Le Réveil de l’Iran” — the Awakening of Iran — was officially opened, becoming the first lodge in Persian history to be officially recognized by a European Grand Lodge.
This lodge, working under the aegis of the French Grand Orient, united the flower of Iranian intelligentsia. The first Worshipful Master was Jean-Baptiste Lemaire, musical director of the Persian army, but the overwhelming majority of leadership positions were held by Iranians. Even before receiving official recognition from Paris, the lodge began active work initiating outstanding figures of Persian culture and politics.
The membership list of “The Awakening of Iran” reads like an encyclopedia of Persian enlightenment. Here were scholar and politician Hasan Taqizadeh, writer and creator of the Persian explanatory dictionary Mirza Ali-Akbar Khan Dehkhoda, progressive clergymen Sadeq Mojtahed Sangalaji and Esma’il Mojtahed Behbahani, Parliament Chairman Nasr-Allah Taqavi, famous orator and secret Azali Jamal al-Din Esfahani. A special place was occupied by Mohammad-Ali Forughi — an outstanding statesman and scholar who studied ancient Iranian history and later twice became Prime Minister.
Qajar princes also did not remain aloof: Mas’ud Mirza Zell al-Soltan, Aman-Allah Mirza, and Ebrahim Khan Zahir al-Dawleh joined the lodge. But the brightest literary monument to Persian Freemasonry was the grandiose poem by Adib al-Mamalek Farahani — a work in five hundred thirty-eight rhyming couplets titled “A’in-e Framashun va Faramush-khaneh.” The poet with amazing ingenuity reinterpreted Masonic symbolism through the prism of Islamic and Persian tradition: the Quranic term “ahl al-bayt,” denoting the Prophet’s family, he interpreted as “the People of the Lodge.”
The international connections of Iranian Masons extended far beyond Tehran. Diplomats who were members of “The Awakening of Iran” became acquainted with Freemasonry in French, Turkish, and Lebanese lodges, forming a real network from Europe to the Middle East. Lodge “La Clémente Amitié” in Paris, several Turkish lodges in Istanbul, Lodge “Le Liban” in Beirut — all this could be called Iranian Freemasonry in exile, preparing cadres for future transformations in the homeland.
The role of Masons in the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 cannot be overestimated. Practically every political leader of this movement was a member of the then-single lodge “The Awakening of Iran” in Tehran. They popularized the ideals of the French Revolution — liberty, equality, fraternity — adapting them to Iranian realities. By the end of the lodge’s existence, it included one hundred eight Iranians, seven French, two Belgians, two Armenians from Turkey, and one Italian. Among the Iranian members were twenty-four government officials and twenty-two famous politicians, clearly demonstrating the degree to which Masonic ideas had penetrated the ruling elite.
The royalist coup of June 1908 temporarily paralyzed the lodge’s activities, but from 1910 onward, initiations resumed with renewed vigor. However, World War I and its associated upheavals undermined this promising beginning. After 1923, no mention of “The Awakening of Iran” appears in the documents of the French Grand Orient.
With Reza Shah’s rise to power in 1925, Freemasonry in Iran entered a long period of dormancy. The new ruler, who established a rigid autocracy, viewed all secret societies with suspicion. Lodge “The Awakening of Iran” voluntarily disbanded in the early 1920s to avoid incurring the regime’s wrath. Paradoxically, it was precisely during this period that seven former members of the dissolved lodge successively occupied the post of Prime Minister. The leading figure among them was Mohammad-Ali Forughi, who kept the lodge’s archives in his own home until his death in 1942.
For foreigners in Iran during this time, three Scottish lodges operated, intended exclusively for non-Iranian citizens. The first was Lodge “Light of Iran,” founded in 1919 in Shiraz for British officers — the first regular lodge officially chartered in Persia. After closure in 1921, it was revived in Tehran in 1922 and existed until the 1970s. Two other lodges, called “Pioneer Lodges,” were created in 1923 in Abadan and Masjed-e Soleyman for employees of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company under the jurisdiction of the Indian Grand Lodge.
Characteristically, a contemporary observer of the mid-1940s noted: “The absence of Iranian citizens among the membership of the Lodges in Iran is not due to any lack of hospitality on the part of the Lodges themselves, but is found in the expressed desire of the civil authorities that Iranians be not admitted.”
The revival of Persian Freemasonry occurred on November 24, 1951, when Mohammad-Khalil Javaheri founded Lodge “Pahlavi” or “Homayun.” The timing of this lodge’s creation was far from accidental: it appeared at the height of the oil nationalization crisis, just six months after the formation of Mohammad Mosaddeq’s nationalist government. Lodge “Pahlavi” positioned itself as an instrument for mobilizing Persian notables against nationalization policies and claimed connection to the Grand Orient through the mediation of some obscure grand lodge in Cairo.
The resumption of Masonic activity in the midst of political crisis generated a new wave of suspicion. Many Iranians of various political persuasions saw in this the machinations of British intelligence services. American diplomats of the time noted that the organization was “popularly believed by many Iranians to be a powerful behind-the-scene political instrument generally subservient to the British interest.” The secrecy surrounding the lodge only intensified suspicions, but the character and prominence of the alleged members — senators, ministers, prominent political figures — testified that even as a purely fraternal organization, the lodge represented a concentration of significant political and economic power.
The true flowering of Iranian Freemasonry came during the period from 1955 to 1978. The first Scottish lodge for Persians was established in 1957 under the name “Tehran.” It was headed by prominent figures: Hosayn Shaqaqi became Worshipful Master, Gholam-Reza Kian Deputy Master, the famous physicist Mohammad Hesabi Senior Warden, Ali-Asgar Khashayar Junior Warden, and Major General Esma’il Shafa’i Director of Ceremonies. By 1969, fourteen lodges operated under Scottish jurisdiction.
German lodges developed in parallel. The first was Lodge “Mehr,” founded on February 5, 1960, in Tehran under the aegis of the United Grand Lodges of Germany. Theodore Vogel, Grand Master of German Masons, personally supervised the creation of Iranian lodges subordinate to German jurisdiction. The French National Grand Lodge also established its branches, beginning in 1955.
The culmination of this construction was the creation in 1969 of the unified Grand Lodge of Iran, uniting forty-three lodges of various jurisdictions with a total membership of one thousand thirty-five. Jafar Sharif-Emami became Grand Master — a political figure who twice held the post of Prime Minister and enjoyed the Shah’s special trust. His Masonic connections gave him informal influence in the political elite, which he skillfully used in his career.
However, the creation of a unified Grand Lodge was accompanied by serious internal conflicts. The split between various jurisdictions led to Sharif-Emami being forced to create his own lodges — “Nahid” in 1964 and “Keyvan” in 1966 — to gain the right to form a regional Grand Lodge. These lodges were recognized by the mainstream Anglo-American, French, and German Masonic organizations, and in 1968 were transformed into a District Grand Lodge under the patronage of the United Grand Lodges of Germany.
An important milestone was the introduction of higher degrees of the Scottish Rite in Iran. In 1965, a group of Persian Masters appealed to the French National Grand Lodge requesting the establishment of a chapter for practicing the Scottish Rite, which grants degrees from the fourth to the thirty-third. The Supreme Council of France gave consent, and Mahmud Human received the degree of thirty-third, becoming “Deputy for the Supreme Council of France in the Valley of Iran.” With the formation of the Grand Lodge of Iran in 1969, the Supreme Council of Iran was formally established, and Human became the first Sovereign Grand Commander of Iran, holding this position until his death in 1980.
Persian Freemasonry differed from its Western counterpart in its markedly elitist character. While in most countries Freemasonry attracted predominantly the middle class, in Iran from the very beginning its ranks were filled by princes, ambassadors, and high-ranking officials. Statistical data speak for themselves: more than forty percent of Prime Ministers in the period from 1906 to 1978, about twenty-five percent of ministers, twenty-five percent of senators, and approximately twenty-three percent of parliament deputies in the 1950s-1970s were Masons. Only in the late 1970s did the social composition somewhat democratize through people from the middle classes seeking social and political advancement.
The ritual aspect of Iranian Freemasonry adapted to local conditions. Lodges offered three main degrees — Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason, designated by the Persian terms “shagerd,” “rafiq,” and “ostad.” The initiation ceremony reproduced the classic Masonic “journey from darkness to light.” Candidates appeared blindfolded, dressed in white garments, with one foot in a simple slipper. They solemnly declared their desire to be admitted to the lodge and swore loyalty to the brotherhood. The blindfold was removed when the Worshipful Master asked the ritual question: “Having been in a state of darkness, what is the predominant wish of your heart?” and the candidate answered: “Light.” At this moment, their attention was drawn to the sacred books of various confessions — the Bible, Torah, Quran, or Avesta — as well as to the Masonic symbols of the compass and square.
Of particular interest are the connections between Iranian Freemasonry and the Zoroastrian tradition. Through Masonic networks, close contacts were established between Shiite reformists in Iran and Parsi communities in Bombay. K.R. Cama, an influential Parsi reformist, community leader, and open Mason, actively promoted the idea of connections between Freemasonry and Zoroastrianism, finding parallels with ancient Mithraic mysteries. By 1870, the charitable activities of the Bombay lodge “Rising Star of Western India” extended to orphans in Singapore and poor Zoroastrians in Iran.
When in 1907 outstanding Iranian reformists decided to create the first official Masonic lodge in Tehran, they did not accidentally name it “The Awakening of Iran.” Among the founders were Zoroastrian representative in parliament Arbab Keikhosraw Shahrokh, Prime Minister and specialist in ancient Iranian history Mohammad Ali Forughi, revival ideologist Seyyed Hasan Taqizadeh, future Prime Minister and ambassador to Britain Hosayn Ala, and Minister of Culture Ebrahim Hakimi. Through the Masonic structure and its extensive global network, revival ideas spread among the reformist elite, overcoming class, national, and religious boundaries.
This entire complex and ramified system was carefully monitored by SAVAK, the intelligence service created in 1957. The organization, which received both funding and methods from the CIA, deployed total surveillance over all aspects of the country’s political life. Masonic lodges were no exception. SAVAK created detailed dossiers on all lodge members, tracked their connections, and controlled correspondence. It was precisely SAVAK documents that later became the main source of information about Persian Freemasonry during the Pahlavi period.
Researcher Esma’il Ra’in, who created the fundamental three-volume work “Faramush-khaneh va Freemasonry dar Iran,” gained access to part of these materials. According to some sources, Ra’in himself worked on SAVAK’s assignment, which explains the anti-Masonic orientation of his book. Nevertheless, his work contains unique information: lodge constitutions, rules, ceremony agendas, appointment lists, correspondence, and detailed registers of Masons indicating their affiliation with various lodges. According to Ra’in’s research, after World War II, only five Iranian Prime Ministers were not Masons: Ali Razmara, Asadollah Alam, Ali Amini, Abdolhosayn Hajhir, and Fazlollah Zahedi. All other non-Masonic Prime Ministers of the preceding one hundred fifty years, except for Reza Khan, whose control over the army ensured his protection, were either killed or removed from power.
The collapse came suddenly and was merciless. The Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979 placed Freemasonry among the main enemies of the new regime. Revolutionaries accused Masons of representing an essentially Jewish organization that was the true power in the state. The destruction of Freemasonry was proclaimed one of the cornerstones of the revolution. When revolutionary committees seized the building of the Grand Lodge of Iran and published membership lists, mass arrests began. Freemasonry was officially banned, all its members declared enemies of the people, and many executed on charges of conspiracy and treason.
The scale of persecution is staggering. In June 1980, four hundred eighty-five employees of the Ministry of Oil were dismissed, accused of belonging to SAVAK, supporting the Shah’s regime, Freemasonry, and membership in the former parliament. In 1984, licenses were revoked for a group of lawyers for their “subservience” to the Shah’s regime and “connections with Freemasons, SAVAK, and foreigners.” The 1988 law on political parties directly prohibited Masons from creating political organizations or joining them.
The ideological justification for the ban rested on the theory that Freemasonry served as an instrument for penetrating Western ideas under the control of international Zionism. The new authorities claimed that one of Freemasonry’s goals was to limit the influence of Shiite religion in social life through encouraging sectarianism and creating heretical movements like Shaykhism or Baha’ism. To increase their influence among the population, Masons allegedly used slogans corresponding to Islamic principles, then spread their own ideas. This strategy attracted even some religious figures who accepted Freemasonry as a movement defending Islamic values.
Curiously, even before the revolution, serious opposition to Freemasonry existed among Shiite clergy. The seventies became a time of organization by clergy and people against the Shah and structures close to him, including Masonic lodges. The fate of Seyyed Hasan Emami is illustrative — one of the few clergymen favorably disposed toward Freemasonry. Having received legal education in Europe and being well acquainted with European history and philosophy, he maintained relations with the Shah’s court and in 1966 was invited to Lodge “Nur.” This decision seriously damaged his reputation among fellow clergymen.
Few Persian Masons managed to leave the country. In November 1982, seventeen former Masters of Persian lodges appealed to Jafar Sharif-Emami, who was in American emigration, requesting permission to continue Masonic activity as members of the Grand Lodge of Iran. The request was granted, and on December 22, a meeting of the Grand Committee was held in the temple of the Grand Lodge of New York. Sharif-Emami appointed his close associate Hosayn Daftarian as Deputy Grand Master, and on April 1, 1983, solemnly elevated him to the rank of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iran in Exile.
Legal resumption of activities required patronage from an American Grand Lodge. On March 26, 1985, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts provided official permission for the Grand Lodge of Iran in Exile to conduct Masonic activities in Boston. A year later, three lodges were created: “Mowlavi” No. 2, “Hafez” No. 8, and “Hatef” No. 33 — with one hundred twenty members holding regular meetings in the temple of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The first meeting of the Grand Lodge of Iran in Exile was held on May 3, 1986, with Daftarian in the position of Grand Master in the Boston temple.
In 1992, Mohammad-Hasan Moshiri was elected Grand Master; in 1995, he was succeeded by Mozaffar Jandaqi, who was re-elected in 1998. At the same time, Lodge “Tus” No. 35 was established. In parallel, on July 3, 1988, the Supreme Council of Iran in Exile was officially reactivated, overseeing the higher degrees of the Scottish Rite from the fourth to the thirty-third.
Not all Persian Masons united around the Grand Lodge in Exile. Baqer Hayat, who held the post of Deputy Grand Master and ran in the 1992 elections, left the organization with a group of supporters after his defeat. They continued activities in Lodge “Mehr” No. 90 — a Persian-speaking lodge in Washington registered by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia in 1990. Under the same jurisdiction worked Lodge “La France,” created in 1992 and conducting work in French, and the Armenian-speaking Lodge “Hayastan” No. 94.
Today, the Grand Lodge of Iran in Exile is based in Los Angeles, although meetings are held in Massachusetts under the patronage of the local Grand Lodge. This organization serves as a living reminder of Iran’s complex relationship with modernization and Western ideas. In Iran itself, the ban on Freemasonry remains unshakeable — the government of the Islamic Republic regards it as a subversive anti-Islamic organization. Masonic activity on the country’s territory is possible only underground, forcing the few remaining members to meet in strictest secrecy, constantly risking freedom and life.
Iran became the first country in the world to express its antipathy toward Freemasonry through modern technology — creating a special anti-Masonic emoji. Currently, twenty-three states worldwide officially support masophobia at the state level, but Iran remains the most consistent in its struggle against this organization.
The influence of Freemasonry on Iranian culture proved deeper and more lasting than might appear at first glance. Masonic symbols imperceptibly penetrated various aspects of Persian art and architecture. The All-Seeing Eye — a symbol of divine observation — appeared in Iranian painting and architecture, while the compass and square found reflection in jewelry and decorative arts. True, these symbols were rarely used openly and were understood only by the initiated.
The literary heritage of Persian Freemasonry is not limited to Adib al-Mamalek’s grandiose poem. The author actively used terminology from Islamic mysticism and craft guild traditions to translate Masonic concepts into Persian. His creativity established a connection between the history of Freemasonry’s emergence and themes of ancient Iranian history, Islam, and particularly Sufism. This work became a unique synthesis of Western Masonic tradition and Eastern spirituality, demonstrating the amazing ability of Persian culture to adapt and creatively reinterpret foreign elements.
The study of Freemasonry’s history in Iran opens before us an amazing picture of cultural interaction between East and West. This organization, which arose in medieval European stonemason guilds, in Iranian interpretation became a bridge between traditional Muslim society and the ideas of European Enlightenment. Persian Masons did not simply copy Western models — they creatively reinterpreted them, creating a unique synthesis in which Masonic rituals neighbored Zoroastrian symbols, and French revolutionary slogans intertwined with Persian poetry.
The elitist character of Iranian Freemasonry, its deep penetration into state power structures, and its active role in the country’s modernization — all this makes the Persian experience unique in the world history of Freemasonry. Nowhere else did this organization achieve such political influence and play such a significant role in transforming traditional society. Paradoxically, it was precisely this exceptionalism that became the cause of the tragic finale: the deeper Freemasonry took root in the Iranian elite, the stronger became its rejection among the popular masses, who saw in Masons the conductors of alien Western influence.
The history of Persian Freemasonry has ended, but its lessons remain relevant. It shows how ideas born in one culture can find unexpected embodiment in a completely different environment, how traditional societies are capable of creatively adapting modernization impulses, and how political cataclysms can destroy overnight the results of years of cultural construction. Ultimately, the history of Freemasonry in Iran is the history of Iran itself in its painful search for a path between tradition and modernity, East and West, faith and reason.
Sources:
Encyclopædia Iranica: articles “Freemasonry i. Introduction,” “Freemasonry ii. In the Qajar Period,” “Freemasonry iii. In the Pahlavi Period,” “Freemasonry v. In Exile” (iranicaonline.org)
Ra’in, Esma’il. Faramush-khaneh va Freemasonry dar Iran. 3rd ed., 3 vols. Tehran, 1357 sh./1978.
Algar, Hamid. “An Introduction to the History of Freemasonry in Iran,” Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 6, no. 3 (October 1970), pp. 276-296.
Rouhani, Alaeddin. Aspects of the History of Freemasonry in Iran: Gushehhayi Az Tarikh Framasoneri Dar Iran. 1988.
Dumont, Paul. “Les loges maçonniques d’obédience française à Istanbul,” materials on Turkish lodges of French obedience.
SAVAK archival materials confiscated after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and stored at the Institute for Persian Contemporary Historical Studies (Tehran).
Grand Orient of France documents on Lodge “Le Réveil de l’Iran.”
Fraser, J.B. Narrative of the Residence of the Persian Princes in London in 1835 and 1836. London, 1838.
Materials from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and Grand Lodge of New York on the Grand Lodge of Iran in Exile.
Associated Press, Reuters, BBC documents on persecution of Masons in Iran after 1979.
Cottam, R. Nationalism in Iran. Pittsburgh, 1964.
Sabatiennes, Paul. “Pour une histoire de la première loge maçonnique en Iran,” Revue de l’Université de Bruxelles, nos. 3-4, 1977, pp. 414-442.
Alam, A. The Diaries of Alam. 3 vols. Bethesda, 1992-95; English translation: The Shah and I: The Confidential Diary of Iran’s Royal Court, 1969-1977. London, 1991.
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