Incomplete Tehran Mosque Reflects Iran’s Unfinished Promises During Khamenei Funeral
Thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran this past weekend to bid farewell to former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Grand Mosalla, a large prayer complex still unfinished nearly 40 years after construction began. The site, intended to symbolize Iran’s strength and resilience, instead revealed cracked tiles, exposed metal rods on incomplete minarets, and a crumbling parking lot, highlighting the building’s deteriorated and incomplete state.
The Grand Mosalla project was initiated shortly after the 1979 revolution to serve as a new venue for major weekly prayers led by prominent clerics. In 1988, then-President Khamenei requested nearly 11 million square feet of land in north-central Tehran for the mosque, which was approved by Ayatollah Khomeini with instructions for a simple design. Architect Parviz Moayed Ahd, who died in 2016, designed the mosque inspired by Persian-Islamic traditions. Construction began in the mid-1990s and the complex now features a 70-meter portico, a 62-meter dome, 143-meter minarets, and a courtyard for 65,000 people.
Despite its scale, the mosque remains unfinished, with exposed metal rods and uneven white paint on the minarets. The parking lot’s asphalt has turned to dust and gravel, stairs are broken, and many tiles are cracked or missing. Scaffolding still surrounds parts of the site, and security personnel appeared exhausted amid the large crowds and heat. Publicized completion deadlines have repeatedly passed, with nearly $1 billion spent by 2011 and an estimated $2 billion more needed to finish the project, according to Iranian reports.
The mosque hosted large events before but never drew such global attention as during Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies. Tehran emergency officials identified 235 safety issues at the site. For some observers, the mosque’s unfinished and deteriorated condition symbolized the unfulfilled promises and inefficiencies of Khamenei’s era. Iranian journalist Mahdiyeh Golroo described the incomplete minarets as "a symbol of the inefficiency and corruption of Khamenei’s era."
