hardline clerics

(Newser) - A newly built avant-garde mosque in the heart of Iran's capital would have hard-liners shouting from the minarets—if there were any. The architects behind the Vali-e-Asr mosque dispensed with tradition, reports the AP , opting instead for a modern design of undulating waves of gray stone and concrete, which...

(Newser) - En route to a local mosque, an Iranian cleric saw a woman he believed was inappropriately dressed, so he warned her to cover up. "You, cover your eyes," she replied, instead putting her dukes up and giving him a shove. "I fell on my back on the...

(Newser) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved in to pressure from hardline clerics and the country's supreme leader today and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a week-long standoff. For days, the president had resisted pressure to dismiss Esfandiar Rahim Mashai from the key post of first vice president. Mashai...