Khomeini's supporters defend extravagant shrine
Critics have assailed the apparent lavishness of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's shrine, saying he would have opposed the "palace-like" building.
As Iranians marked the 26th anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death June 4 at his mausoleum, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned about distorting the character of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran as this year’s ceremony was held amid a debate over a major reconstruction of Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran.
The dispute began after the conservative Jomhouri-e Eslami daily on May 18 criticized the nearly finished project as “incompatible with Khomeini’s principle of living a simple life.”
"The very wide area, the ceiling and the strong foundation, the thick concrete walls around grabbed my attention so much that I wasn't able to engage in pilgrimage as usual," Editor-in-Chief Masih Mohajeri editorialized about the megacomplex that includes shops, a university, a five-star hotel, hospital, a museum and a parking lot for tens of thousands of vehicles.
Days after, the Jamaran News (run by the Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works) published images of the nearly finished shrine.
