Behesht-e Zahra


Behesht-e Zahra is the largest cemetery in Iran. Located in the southern part of metropolitan Tehran, it is connected to the city by Tehran Metro Line 1.

History

In the early 1950s, all the cemeteries in Tehran were supposed to be replaced by several large new ones outside the then precincts of the capital. Behesht-e Zahra was built in late 1960s on the southern side of Teheran towards the direction of the city of Qom and opened on 29 June 1970 by mayor of Tehran, Gholamreza Nikpey. It was named by Ayatollah Ahmad Khonsari. The first person buried in Behesht-e Zahra was Mohammad-Taghi Khial on 25 July 1970.
Many of the deceased soldiers of the Iran–Iraq War were buried in the martyr's section of the graveyard.

Notable burials

Royalties

In addition to tombs of the royals, politicians, and other significant people, in the graveyard there are symbolic tombs for the perpetrators of the 1983 Hezbollah attacks on the U.S. Marine and French peacekeepers' barracks in Beirut and for the assassin of Anwar Sadat, Khalid Islambouli. Similarly, a symbolic tomb was erected in the cemetery for Hezbollah member Imad Mughniyah, who was killed on 12 February 2008 in Damascus, Syria.

Images