Hard-liners see ‘treason’ in new modernist mosque
TEHRAN — A newly built avant-garde mosque in the heart of Iran’s capital would have hardliners shouting from the minarets — if there were any.
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 gray stone and concrete, which they say complements the surrounding architecture and evokes the austerity of early Islam.
The new structure has infuriated hard-liners, 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, accusing authorities of “treason” for approving it. The “completely neutral” design conveys an “atheistic approach,” it said.
The mosque has emerged as the latest battleground in a culture war between hard-liners and Iran’s vibrant artistic community, which has hoped — often in vain — for greater openness since President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, was elected in 2013.
The structure rises smoothly from a major intersection in a popular shopping area near Tehran University. It’s adjacent to the City Theater of Tehran, an iconic building dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the mosque includes its own library, reading halls, classrooms and amphitheater.
Reza Daneshmir, one of the architects, said he struggled for months before finally convincing authorities that a traditional mosque would look out of place at the site. He even argued his case before a parliamentary committee. “I finally succeeded in persuading them,” he said.
“We wanted it to be an avant-garde project, not a conservative and backward one,” he added.