Valiasr Street (previously, Pahlavi and Mossadeq Street) is known as the “long street in Tehran and the West Asia” at 17.9 kilometres (11.1 miles) dividing the city into western and eastern parts.
Running just under 18 km from the railway square (Rah Ahan Square) in the south to Tajrish Square and the Shemiran neighbourhood in the north of the capital, the road has become a tourist sight in own right.
Construction start in 1922 and ended in 1927, with the final part of asphalting completed in 1933, it is considered one of the most important thoroughfares in the country with all important power centres — apart from the parliament further east — within a spitting distance from the edge of the road.
Getting around the Valiasr St
The quickest and easiest way to get around Valiasr Street these days is using the the hop-on, hop-off Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) introduced 10 years ago. The buses segregated into male and female sections, whizz people up and down the length of the street for a set price as part of the citywide metropolis integrated transport card.
Alternatively there are taxis pass most sections of the street minute-by-minute, so it is always a cheap and easy way to get somewhere, however, like most other private vehicles you will be at the mercy of the busy traffic at whatever time of day.
History of the Valiasr Street
The street was built by Reza Shah Pahlavi‘s order and called the Pahlavi Street for its first few decades. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution the street’s name was changed initially to Mossadeq Street (the former nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mossadeq) and later to Valiasr (a reference to the 12th Shi’ite Imam). Side note, after many years, Mossadeq was granted a street renaming in his honour by the municipality.
Vali-e-Asr Street was included in the list of national monuments of Iran in 2011 due to its unique features such as the famous sycamore trees, large shopping malls, public parks, restaurants, museums, cultural centers and national and international offices.
Shopping on Valiasr Street
Valiasr Avenue is the main Shopping street in Tehran and whole Iran, in the south end of the street you will find many sports stores while as you move more northward you will then move onto furniture, kids stores and many other interesting variations.
Many big brand chain stores have branches on this street like Debenhams (two stores, Benetton Group (three stores), Reebok, Adidas, and several others.
Many important shopping centres of Tehran are located on the Valiasr Street like Bazaar Reza and other tech hubs (below Valiasr Square) Tandis Centre (located at northeast point of the street at Tajrish Sq.), the Safayieh Mall, the Eskan Shopping centre and many more.
If you are looking for more luxury several jewellery and accessories stores such as Rolex and Tag Heuer are located on Valiasr.
If you’re looking for fine dining, may we recommend one of our personnel favourites, Yas Restaurant across from Park Mellat.