This study focuses on institutional efforts to advance Islamic ecumenism in recent decades and examines Iran’s state-backed World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought aka Tehran’s Ecumenical Society (TES).

It aims to investigate the context and forces that led to the formation and evolution of this ecumenical organization, analyze its structure, strategy, and performance across the past three decades, explore its negotiation with Iranian domestic and regional policies, and discuss the array of shortcomings and proposals and possibilities to tackle them.

Drawing on the vast literature of interfaith and ecumenical studies, statecraft, foreign policy, and organizational studies, and by examining TES’s available documents and publications, this monograph conducts multidisciplinary research on the most important Islamic ecumenical institution, contributing to the fields of faith-based organizations, Middle East politics, Islamic studies, and interfaith relations.