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Delays in Mosalla Construction Unacceptable

Imam Khomeini Mosalla has not been completed after nearly 30 years.
Imam Khomeini Mosalla has not been completed after nearly 30 years.

The governor general of Tehran Province has expressed strong criticism about the dismal conditions at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla that has not been completed after nearly 30 years.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Tehran City Council, Hussein Hashemi urged the new council to give priority to the completion of the major site for congregations and exhibitions in north Tehran warning them against complaining about funding problems (as has been the case for years) that have resulted in the delays.

“Tehran Municipality has a budget of 18 trillion rials ($473 million) a year for cultural projects and the Mosalla will be completed within two years drawing on this fund,” he said, IRIBnews.ir reported.

The Grand Mosalla (mosque) in a huge patch of land in Tehran’s Abbas Abad neighborhood that was proposed in 1982 to replace Tehran University as a location for the weekly Friday congregation.  

Construction work began in 1990 undertaken by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps but the complex has not been completed and has largely served as a venue for exhibitions.

In 2015, implementation of the project was transferred to Tehran Municipality on the order of the Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

“Last year, when the international Quran competitions was to be held at the Mosalla, I was strongly opposed simply because Islamic countries would take part and seeing a religious center incomplete after so many years would undermine  our country’s honor and dignity,” Hashemi said.  

By 2011, around 35 trillion rials ($921 million) had been spent on the project and the project managers announced that another 85 trillion rails ($2.2 billion) is required to complete the complex within five years.

With 2017 also coming to an end, the complex remains unfinished building despite the fact that major religious events including Friday and Eid Fitr prayers are held there. Friday prayers are still held in Tehran University in the center of the city during spring and autumn.

Yadollah Shirmardi, head of the Tehran Friday Prayer Headquarters had said last year that two trillion rials ($52 million) are needed to wrap up the project.

“This amount is a part of funds needed for equipment such as moving walkways for the elderly and disabled and security equipment as well as parks and nurseries,” he had told the Persian daily Jamejam.

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