Countering terrorist threats and ensuring safety and security in population centers is one of the important issues in ensuring sustainable urban development and comprehensive citizen management. Expert research shows that the number of crises has increased significantly in the last few decades worldwide. Many victims of natural and human-made crises around the world live in cities in developing countries. In order to deal with natural and human-made crises, it is important to pay attention to two rational approaches, which are: 1- Understanding how human behavior and activities can contribute to the occurrence of crises (human and natural) and 2- What comprehensive and comprehensive strategies are needed to prevent crises and ensure security in cities (2007:18, UN-Habitat).
Terrorist attacks are one of the biggest challenges facing the world in the 21st century, as cities are ideal targets for terrorists due to their demographic, economic and political centrality, and almost all terrorist attacks occur in cities, especially in population centers, so that terrorism can be considered a fundamentally urban phenomenon. However, terrorists do not carry out their attacks randomly in cities. They try to carry out their attacks in places in the city that 1- cause a lot of human and material losses 2- have a wider media dimension and 3- create a lot of fear and panic in the target society in order to achieve their goals faster (Yazdi and Dabiri, 2013: 18).
As statistics show, about 16,000 people have been victims of terrorist attacks in Iran so far (www.habilian.com). And the occurrence of terrorist incidents in some cities of the country, including the terrorist incidents in 2018 in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the shrine of Imam Khomeini (may God have mercy on him) in Tehran and the terrorist attack in 2018 and 2019 in the shrine of Hazrat Shah Cheragh, have sounded an alarm bell for the people and officials. Therefore, taking preventive measures by utilizing passive defense considerations in order to protect the people is essential. Today, passive defense, as one of the most effective and sustainable methods of defense against threats, is always considered by most countries in the world, and even countries with high military power, such as the United States, have paid special attention to this issue. A country like Switzerland, despite its neutrality in most political and military equations, also pays great attention to this issue (Kianjad and Firouzpour, 2012: 5). In Iran, too, based on paragraphs 2 and 9, The general policies of the system, announced by the Supreme Leader, in the field of passive defense of the country, are one of the basic missions and functions of passive defense, protecting cities and citizens, or protecting people from military and terrorist attacks.
The shrine of Hazrat Abdulazim Hassani (AS), apart from being sacred, is considered one of the most important urban collective spaces in Tehran province, especially Tehran city, which annually receives thousands of pilgrims from all over the country and neighboring provinces. Due to its strategic use and sensitive role in terms of urban location, this place can play an important role in controlling crisis conditions in Tehran and Rey. The implementation of various religious ceremonies, high population circulation around the clock, etc., cause problems in various sectors, including controlling entry and exit arteries (horseback and pedestrian), public service spaces (services and parking lots), controlling the population in courtyards and movement routes, etc. On the other hand, due to the expansion plan of the holy shrine, there is always construction in various sectors. Among the important issues that are considered in public places such as holy shrines is the protection of human lives against man-made threats. Because, considering incidents such as the bombing of the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) on the day of Ashura in 1373, which led to the martyrdom and injury of a number of pilgrims, as well as the similar terrorist incident in 1396 that occurred at Imam Khomeini (RA) and led to the martyrdom and injury of a number of compatriots, as well as the terrorist attacks on the Imamzadeh of Ahmad bin Musa Shahcheragh (AS) in the city of Shiraz in 1401 and 1402, it is necessary to conduct a systematic study to formulate passive defense considerations in the holy shrine of Hazrat Abdulazim Hassani to protect the people and the population present in the courtyard of the shrine and its surroundings against terrorist attacks and threats, so that in the first place, the lives of pilgrims and neighbors can be protected and appropriate services can be provided to citizens and pilgrims. Also, in critical situations, the amount of damage can be minimized.
2- Research Background
Regarding the research title, topics close to the research title have been carried out in the form of theses, articles, and dissertations;
Seyed Amin Hosseini Moghadam in his thesis has developed the principles of locating and designing dual-purpose public shelters in holy places (case study of the shrine of Hazrat Abdul Azim (AS). In this research, he focused solely on the discussion of locating the shrine of Hazrat Abdul Azim (AS) and did not consider the issues related to the requirements and considerations for protecting people against terrorist incidents.
Mujtaba Ghaffari Azar in his thesis on compiling passive defense considerations in the holy shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) has examined most of the indicators from the perspective of passive defense in general.
Hamidreza Ershadmanesh, in his dissertation on designing a strategic model of urban passive defense to protect people against military threats (case study of Tehran), presented a strategic model of urban passive defense to protect people against military threats using seven dimensions of passive defense, namely social, security, cyber, political, environmental, and crisis management in Tehran. The findings of this research are that the strategic model of urban passive defense requires strengthening and strengthening the capabilities of urban management.