Estehlal Headquarters

Estehlal Headquarters (Persian: ستاد استهلال, romanised: Setade Estehlal) is an organization and command post based in Iran, that deploys groups to monitor the sky and identify the crescent of the moon on the first night(s) of the Lunar month, as per the Islamic tradition of Estehlal. This is undertaken to mark the first day of each month in the lunar calendar. Estehlal Headquarters was established by the decree of Iran's supreme leader, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, to regulate the practice of Estehlal. The Center consists of 150 groups with 700 members.