On the outskirts of Tehran stands the imposing Iran Mall, one of the five largest in the world. This luxury space is now at the service of the health emergency with the opening of a COVID-19 patient hospital in its facilities. Its owner, the Iranian billionaire Alí Ansarí, devised a modern architectural space but with a clear influence of the Persian culture to build a shopping center without equal in Iran, which five years ago looked optimistically to the future after the signing of the nuclear agreement. These dreams were partly frustrated with the United States’ reimposition of sanctions in 2018, which have led numerous international firms to disassociate themselves from the project, which has not yet been finalized. To these difficulties has now been added the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused in Iran more than 2,300 dead and 32,000 infected, and for the containment of which most of the shops have been closed. However, Ansarí has once again demonstrated his initiative and through the charitable foundation of his family he has set up the convalescence center, with a capacity of up to 3,000 beds, and which this week received its first patients.
