(Tehran) A newly built avant-garde mosque in the heart of Iran’s
capital hasn’t gone down well with the
mad mullahs who would be screaming ‘Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for
me, if there were any minarets to said mosque.
The architects behind the Vali-e-Asr mosque dispensed with the traditional rounded domes and towering minarets, opting instead for a modern design of undulating waves of grey stone and concrete, which they say complements the surrounding architecture and evokes the austerity of early Islam.
The mosque has infuriated hardliners, who see it as part of
a creeping secular onslaught on the Islamic republic. An editorial posted on
the Mashregh news website compared the curvature to that of a Jewish yarmulke, more
conservative voices have criticized the mosque's design for the fact that it
differs from traditional mosques around the world. In their opinion, the design
is the result of "secular and Jewish influence." Mashregh, a local
news site, claimed the new mosque looks like a kippah (skullcap or beanie), and
that the architects must stand trial for "treason" and aiding the
"Zionist plot."
