By Ali Sheikholeslami
Tehran has got its new symbol: the Milad Tower (pictured, left), which will be officially scratching the sky from today. The Municipality of Tehran has been working hard on a number of projects, from new BRT bus routes to refurbishing pavements. Apart from these completed works, many others are under way, with red lights which countdown to show the number of days to completion. There's no place in the city where this buzz cannot be felt.
Now, let me remind you that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the mayor of Tehran before his presidency. More interestingly, the current mayor, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, competed in the last elections for president (thinking to the last minute that he was favoured by the Supreme Leader and the Right camp).
His previous credentials include being chief commander of the Police, during which time he reshaped the force - introducing new uniforms and buying scores of brand new Mercedes.
Ahmadinejad and Qalibaf are also both conservatives, and
not the only ones preparing to rally. The Rights will have a difficult
job reaching a coalition.
Milad, literally meaning birth, is trying to be a substitute for the old Azadi (freedom) Tower (pictured, right). Azadi may look lumpy and not very cutting-edge, but is certainly cosier and less phallic. Milad's communication function is definitely not the most forward-looking technology and may be obsolete in the not too distant future. But there's something obviously meaningful about its being christened now, as a star achievement of the Municipality.
Besides being a new symbol, Milad's top floor restaurant will be good for having shish-kebab 300 metres above ground, rotating around and getting you dizzy with Tehran’s luminous nights, making up for a lack of non-soft drinks.
Can Mr Qalibaf take pride in building the fourth tallest tower of the world? Personally, I'd rather be free than born.
(Photos by Sohrab Mostafavi Kashani)
nice post, but i think the pictures have been missplaced...
Posted by: Soheil K | Thursday, 02 October 2008 at 09:26 PM
yea the pictures are around the wrong way. Azadi tower is the top one.
Posted by: shab | Thursday, 02 October 2008 at 09:30 PM
How come you don't have a bio up on here?
Posted by: Ben M | Friday, 03 October 2008 at 05:44 AM
Nice blog, well done.
Posted by: tehrankid77 | Friday, 03 October 2008 at 10:33 AM
Nice post Ali! Informative for people like us!!!
Posted by: jackie | Friday, 03 October 2008 at 06:57 PM
Yes, better to be free than born.
Posted by: Roshanak | Saturday, 04 October 2008 at 06:56 AM
Hi. The images are well placed. My preference goes to the white Azadi Tower, which shows a tall magnificence over the square and the city. Thanks, Ali.
Posted by: Philippe | Saturday, 04 October 2008 at 02:33 PM
i agree with the last sntnc. i heard on t.v that a survey showed that ppl in tehran still considered Azadi tower as a symbol. prsonally, i dont think Milad will ever replace Azadi since the design and architecture of Azadi tower is unique whereas there are dozens similar to Milad.
Posted by: safaneh | Saturday, 04 October 2008 at 10:35 PM
Congratulations! Good job.
Posted by: Arya | Monday, 06 October 2008 at 01:45 AM
Thanks for finally informing me of the tower's official name, my friends always referred to it as the 'Kir-e Khar' (apologies to Farsi readers)... which means something at once rather phallic and extremely rude. The politics of the thing are pretty crude.
That said, you cant knock the BRT! Who needs a metro when the buses are finally working?!
Posted by: IranTaleb | Tuesday, 07 October 2008 at 01:32 PM
I appreciate your patriotic feeling.
Best wishes from Sajjadul Karim, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Posted by: Sajjad | Wednesday, 08 October 2008 at 08:53 AM
Nice piece of article, and good information if you are only watch CNN or BBC.
Photo should more clear than that.
Posted by: said | Wednesday, 08 October 2008 at 12:42 PM
Dear Ali, well done! will keep my eye on this blog. Stay in touch. Dena
Posted by: Dena | Thursday, 09 October 2008 at 11:16 AM
Nice, and yeah, braaave. You're getting into politics, huh? Literature or politics? elm ya servat? ;) Can you be free unborn?
Posted by: sarah | Thursday, 09 October 2008 at 02:12 PM
I like how you end your comments with a good-old traditional Ira-nian WHINE; "I'd rather be free than born".
Here in the US, the land of freedom and democracy, women are denied the freedom to choose to engage in prostitution. People are denied the right to choose the substances they want to enjoy. They are one federal judge away from allowing states to deny women the freedom of choice on abortion, and ban same-sex marriage. A sev-enteen year old gets thrown in the slammer for 20 years for con-sensually receiving a blow-job from a girl one year younger than him.
And yet we Iranians are always, no matter what the occasion, no matter what the place, we are always proclaiming ourselves as hav-ing our "freedoms" taken from us.
I congratulate you on continuing this fine Iranian tradition of whin-ing.
Posted by: Hashem | Tuesday, 28 October 2008 at 01:51 AM
I expected to read about Milad Tower but I am disappointed.
Posted by: Ali | Friday, 31 October 2008 at 10:06 AM