The role of Freemasonry in spreading the culture of ancient Iran and confronting religious thought

Freemasonry, which began its political activities with the efforts of the British government in the 17th century, gradually spread its ideals globally among Western and Eastern civilizations. In line with the initial conditions of the early Qajar era, the wave of this movement also affected the reign of Fathali Shah Qajar and from that time on, Iranians became familiar with this movement in various ways. This familiarity created new awareness and motivations among the upper classes and Iranian diplomats, who turned the lodges into a center for introducing new programs and ideals to Iranian society. Antiquity as a Masonic-Western ideal sought to replace itself in the world by fading and sidelining the religious culture of nations. The aim of this paper is to answer the question of whether Freemasons and their organizations played a role in the ancient tendencies of Iranians and confronting religious thought from the constitutional period to Pahlavi. The result of the research shows that Freemasonry revived and nurtured the ancient thoughts of Iranians, which had existed in the minds of Iranians for centuries, in the 18th century, and promoted it to an ideological thought with a plan to confront religious thought. Masonic teachings caused them to highlight the history of ancient Iran and praise this period, and to attribute the backwardness of Iranians to the Arab invasion and the prevalence of religious thought.