Martyrdom in Iran
In Iran, Shia Islam is the majority religion, at 89% of the estimated 79 million inhabitants,[1] and is a very important part of public and political life.
[2] The genesis of Shi’a Islam is rooted in the idea that the charismatic and politico-religious authority possessed by Muhammad was transferred to his biological descendants after his death in 632 CE.
The resulting claim to the rightful leadership of the Muslim community (the ummah) was thus supposed to pass, in the form of the Imamate, to the descendants of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima (606–632) and her husband Ali b. Abi Talib (600–661).
"[5] During these ten days, mourners reenact the events at Karbala and pay respect to Husayn and several of his companions and family members who were also martyred.
[8] Graveyards that hold the bodies of martyrs have taken on the characteristics of a public park, with families gathering to have picnics by the graves of their loved ones while listening to hired performers play music, recite poetry, or read verses from the Quran.
[10] Portraits of deceased soldiers are included in murals that line the streets, and pictures of martyrs hang from the walls in local mosques.
It was a mark of respect to have lost a son in the war, and the public displays honoring martyrs kept the memory of a family's loss alive in the community.
[18] The concept of martyrdom in Iranian society has played an important role in the major political conflicts of the past century.
"[22] The revolutionaries therefore considered those who died at the hands of the Shah's secret police to be martyrs, especially those killed during the Black Friday Massacre (link), a clash between government troops and peaceful protestors that led to the deaths of around 100 people.
Major clashes with police would often occur in a 40-day cycle, as Iranian tradition demanded 40 days of mourning ending with public memorial processions for the deceased.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq was seen as the Sunni aggressor against the Shia people and therefore took on the role of the new Yazid in Iranian political discourse.
For example, Mehrdad Nahravand, a Zoroastrian Air Force pilot from the city of Gorgan, who deliberately crashed his F-4 jet into a column of Iraqi Tanks after being shot down, was lauded as a 'martyr' despite his religion and statues of him were erected in his hometown.
Similar was the case of Ardeshir Esfandpour, a Zoroastrian Helicopter pilot from the city of Mianeh who after being shot down behind enemy lines in a battle near Ilam, deliberately called in an airstrike on his position, which was being captured by the Iraqis.
Or Hoshang Nowshirwanian, a poor Zoroastrian carpenter from the city of Yazd, who was conscripted into a Sapper battalion and single-handedly attacked an Iraqi Tank in order to save his commanding officer, for which the city council of Yazd commissioned a street name for him[26] Even those who did not die in battle but were wounded were called living martyrs- however this position did not bring as much social mobility as the families of those who died.
Actors were hired to play the role of the Hidden Imam before dangerous battles, calling out to the soldiers to participate in suicide missions.
Often martyrdom meant suicide missions on the battlefield, such as the famous example of the 13-year-old boy Mohammed Hossein Fahmideh who strapped explosives to his body and ran under an Iraqi tank.
Following the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, protests concerning the validity of the vote and the possibility of voter-fraud broke out that led to thousands of arrests and close to a hundred deaths.
