Violence Erupts as Locals Protest Against New Mosque

On July 2, violent clashes broke out between residents protesting against the construction of a mosque in a Tehran park and others who supported the project. Several people were injured. 

“A group of about 70 residents gathered in front of the mosque’s construction site and were attacked by a group of people who supported the building project,” Shahrvand Newspaper reported. 

Prior to the attack, locals had staged demonstrations in the park and outside the city council and Tehran municipality building after they realized that authorities had begun building the mosque overnight, apparently in in violation of the administrative court’s recent ruling on the construction. 

Locals say they have legal proof that developers obtained permission to build the mosque by illegal means. The mosque, called the House of Koran, was due to be erected in one of Tehran’s oldest neighborhood parks, located in the Ekbatan residential district of the city. 

For months, local people and authorities have clashed over the issue. 

The administrative court issued a verdict on 21 June that said, “Having studied the history and documents that the plaintiffs have presented, based on articles 24 and 25 of the administrative court law and approved by the Expediency Council on 5 June 2012, construction should stop immediately until a final decision has been released.”

Despite the decision, construction went ahead.

“Our lawyers convinced the administrative court to stop construction work, despite what the regional municipality wanted,” resident Mohammad Iranmanesh, who was hospitalized after the attack on Thursday, told Shahrvand. “But not only did they not do this, they actually expanded the project to include a lot of land nearby.”

Iranmanesh explained that the dispute goes back several years, when authorities built underground train tunnels that destroyed the park. He said they were told at the time that the park would be restored once construction work for the metro was finished.

“They even said they would build a green belt where they’re now trying to build the mosque,” says Iranmanesh. “Then one night, a group of people arrived and built a wall around this piece of land and began building the House of Koran without any official approval.” 

In May, 25,000 Ekbatan residents gathered outside of the city council to protest against the building of the mosque in the park. In reaction to this, Mehdi Chamran, the city council chairman, made an announcement, at the time, in support of the building project. 

He said at the time, “We don’t approve of the protesters’ petition.”

Read the original article in Persian

Related articles:

Tehran Gardens Destroyed for High Rises

Mehr Housing Project: To House the Poor or to Boost the Government’s Popularity?

To read more stories like this, sign up to our weekly email.