Iranâs New International Airport Unusable
Supreme Leader Khamenei declared this Iranâs year of accountability. He could start by determining why Tehranâs newest and grandest international airport remains unusable, almost three months after being inaugurated amid much fanfare.
The Imam Khomeini International Airport near Tehran cost a total of 2.6 trillion rials plus $60 [million], IRNA reported on 31 January. It is intended to handle about 6 million passengers its first phase, 15 million in the second phase, and 40 million a year when the third phase is complete; IRNA did not specify when this would be....
Yet the airport still cannot be used, according to Radio Farda on 14 April, because construction on the project is below par and does not conform to international standards. The original project engineers quit after the end of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, and the government at that time allowed the Oppressed and Disabled Foundation (Bonyad-i Mostazafan va Janbazan) to take over the airport project. The foundation changed many of the original specifications. As a result, the runways were made with asphalt instead of cement and must be repaved; neither the electrical power nor the runway lighting function properly; and the aircraft refueling equipment is inadequate. Until these problems are resolved, Radio Farda reported, the airport cannot be used.
Only a truly tightly wound turban would turn management over to the "Oppressed and Disabled Foundation" and be surprised when things didnât quite work as planned. 
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