The next year, after Ayatollah Khomeini emerged as the Supreme Leader , the government demolished the red light district and flattened it with bulldozers, only leaving a barren area. Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, said that the government did this for Islamic reasons and to demonstrate the government’s authority. The Islamic Republic then strove to erase all memory of it, destroying books and movies that mentioned its existence. The city’s maps are marked with a rectangle captioned “Parc in Construction.” Only rare witness accounts remain, such as the photographic series The Citadel by Iranian photojournalist Kaveh Golestan . The area wasn’t refurbished until 1998, with a city park and a hospital.
