The “Behesht-e Zahra Foundation” oversees one of the largest operating cemeteries in the city of Tehran. The cemetery’s official opening dates back to 1970. The cemetery’s initial area was 314 hectares, but by the end of 1997, 110 additional hectares were purchased by the government in the northern and northeastern parts of the field. Today, Behesht Zahra has expanded into a 424-hectare property.

The cemetery has been divided into 163 blocks, 14 of which have been dedicated to the “Martyrs of the Revolution.” Three blocks are dedicated to the “Parents of Martyrs,” one block to “Artists and Notables,” 25 blocks to administrative offices, parking structures and recreational areas, and 120 blocks to ordinary citizens of Tehran.

Among the cemetery’s attractions are the stand on which Ayatollah Khomeini delivered his historic speech in 1979 upon returning to Iran after years of exile, and memorials dedicated to “Haft-e Tir martyrs,” “hajj incident martyrs,” “Halabcheh martyrs,” “unknown soldiers,” and the martyrdom museum. There is also a sporting complex, a conference room, two large parks and a mosque in the area.

Habib, whose 17-year-old brother lost his life in a combat operation during the Iran-Iraq war, is visiting his brother’s tomb along with his mother, wife and family. Habib recalls the memory of a 15-year-old adolescent who left behind the teary eyes of his mother to grow up and come back. But he was not allowed to grow up; worse, he never came back…

Habib takes his young son, Sobhan, to a tomb nearby so that he can relieve himself. When someone objects, “Isn’t anyone buried there?” Habib responds, “No, we always bring the kids here. These broken tombstones belong to the Monafeghin.” (The government and many Iranians refer to the People’s Mojaheddin opposition group, as the Monafeghin, which literally means the ‘hypocrites’.’)

Unable to find his wife’s tomb for many years, Saeed has finally returned to Iran from the Netherlands. He asked everyone he could if they knew anything about his wife’s tomb, to no avail. “It was all useless,” says Saeed. “Finally, I found Saba’s tomb with a few clicks on Behesht Zahra’s computer database. On her profile it was written, ‘cause of death: heart attack; place of death: hospital; signature: Islamic Revolution’s Attorney General.’”

Today, Behesht Zahra is equipped with a complex computer system, with a database that encodes the victims’ time of admittance, cause of death, and basic information in a 7-digit number. Any visitor can easily find his or her desired tomb in a matter of seconds by providing some of the dead relative’s basic information.

The idea to build a large and modern cemetery that could replace more than 70 smaller cemeteries across Tehran formed in 1955, but it took 10 years for the idea to materialize. Today, Behesht Zahra admits an average of 130 dead bodies a day, and so even this huge cemetery is slowly reaching its full capacity.