Tehran - The Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday opened the Milad Tower which is said to be the world's fourth highest building for telecommunications.

Only the telecommunication towers of Toronto (553.3 metres), Moscow (533.3 metres) and Shanghai (500 metres) are higher than the Milad Tower in western Tehran with a height of 435 metres, media reports in Iran said.

The tower, owned by the Tehran municipality, is also supposed to serve as a commercial and entertainment centre.

The construction of the Milad Tower which started in 1996 was supposed to be completed in five years, but eventually took 12 years due to financial problems and constant change of the Tehran mayors. (dpa)