Current Situation
Since the revolution the Astan-e-Qods the bonyad has grown from a "modest concern" into a conglomerate employing 19,000 people and running "auto plants, agricultural businesses, and many other enterprises, and it is worth an estimated $15 billion."
The land occupied by the shrine has grown fourfold since 1979 according to the head of the foundation's international relations department. The foundation owns most of the real estate in Mashhad and rents out shop space to bazaaris and hoteliers.
According to journalist Christopher de Bellaigue, "when asked to identify the most important man in the city, Mashhadis do not name the mayor but rather" the head of Astan-e-Qods.
Ayatollah Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, nicknamed the Sultan of Khorasan, has been the head of Astan-e-Qods since the revolution.
Read more about this topic: Astan Quds Razavi
Famous quotes containing the words current and/or situation:
“It is not however, adulthood itself, but parenthood that forms the glass shroud of memory. For there is an interesting quirk in the memory of women. At 30, women see their adolescence quite clearly. At 30 a woman’s adolescence remains a facet fitting into her current self.... At 40, however, memories of adolescence are blurred. Women of this age look much more to their earlier childhood for memories of themselves and of their mothers. This links up to her typical parenting phase.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“An actress reading a part for the first time tries many ways to say the same line before she settles into the one she believes suits the character and situation best. There’s an aspect of the rehearsing actress about the girl on the verge of her teens. Playfully, she is starting to try out ways to be a grown-up person.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)