Holy Shrine Defender

[6] The term itself begins to appear throughout Iranian media in 2013 in response to the perceived danger facing the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque from Sunni rebels and an actual shelling of the shrine in July of that year.

Protection of the shrine from outside attack, and possible destruction, has been used as a key mobilizing tactic for the Iranian state to attract Shia forces from across the region, especially those in Afghanistan who lived under Taliban rule.

In April 2013, reports emerged that Al-Nusra Front, associated with Al-Qaeda in Syria, disinterred the dead body of Hujr ibn 'Adi and threatened to repeat this action at Zaynab bint Ali ’s shrine.

[16] Hojaji's status as an iconic martyr of the "holy shrine defenders" can be seen in the multitude of depictions, such as those appearing on the billboard at Tehran's Vali Asr Square,[17] which seek to relate his image and death on the battlefield to the events occurring at the Battle of Karbala.

Other symbols related to the designated mission of the "holy shrine defenders," namely the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque in Damascus, also feature heavily in iconography sponsored by the Islamic Republic and are used to create connections between current events and Shia history.