Transformation of the concept of love has been a key marker of Iranian modernity: heteronormalization of sexual mores and heterosocialization of public life called for re-envisioning marriage from a procreative to a romantic contract. Modernist intellectuals, from the mid-nineteenth century, condemned arranged, temporary, and polygynous marriages, advocating monogamy and marriage based on love. Initially, romantic love turned out to be a hard sell. When a later generation turned to issues of lov…