Grieving families in Iran are confronting the devastating human cost of the war that erupted on February 28, as U.S. and Israeli air strikes continue to strike Tehran and other cities. Marzia Razaei wept for her 23-year-old son, Arfan Shamei, who was killed in a blast at a military training camp in Kermanshah, just days before he was scheduled to return home on leave. According to Iranian officials, the conflict has claimed more than 1,300 lives so far, plunging the region into a deepening crisis.
Tears streamed down Razaei’s face as she hugged a large portrait of her son, recalling their last conversation about his impending trip home and the preparations for his upcoming wedding. “I hadn’t seen him for two months,” she said, her voice breaking. Shamei’s tent was engulfed in flames on March 4, leaving his body so badly burned that Razaei could not view it. She sat in front of his grave at the sprawling Behesht-e Zahra cemetery south of Tehran as rain fell steadily, mourning her son who, she said, had once been afraid of the dark.
The cemetery’s Section 42 has become a focal point of the grief, where dozens of gravediggers prepared new plots while white marble stones were readied to mark the graves of the deceased. As mourners carried another body for burial, an air strike echoed nearby, sending grey smoke across the district. Families gathered around graves decorated with photographs and Iranian flags, some women quietly weeping, others striking their chests in anguish. Flowers were scattered across graves as loudspeakers broadcast Shi’ite Muslim hymns of mourning.
Section 42 also holds graves of members of the Basij militia, Revolutionary Guards personnel, and detainees from Evin Prison, targeted in this war and previous strikes last June. For many, grief has been mingled with anger. Fatima Darbechi, 58, mourned her 44-year-old brother who was mortally wounded while attempting to rescue people from a bombed car. Others, like the mother of 25-year-old Ihsan Jangravi, voiced defiance at the U.S. and Israel. “When you burn our hearts, you do not stop us, you do not bring us to our knees,” she said, pumping her fist into the air.
