TEHRAN – Wednesday was a surreal day in Tehran, the day after the fight between Iran and Israel. Compared to the previous day, more people attended their work, down the south, at Behesht-e-Zahra Cemetery, it was the busiest busiest that had been busy for years.
There were several funerals held there. There were young, old men, men and women bodies wrapped in white fabrics that Muslims use to fill the dead. The atmosphere was creepy. Many people were crying and crying, but some were able to see clearly despite the sadness on their faces.
I spoke to one of the mourners, the woman who buried her brother. She was wearing a black Iranian chador. Next to her were people who didn’t look like her in their outfits. They wore loose clothing and hijabs. “I lost my brother in the Israeli attack. He was a soldier who completed his military service,” the woman explained. Zahra said that, as she named herself, she comes from a family who sacrificed many of its members for the country. “Two of my uncles were martyrs during the Iran-Iraq War. My father was also a soldier during that war. We were used to hearing and talking about martyrs, but we didn’t expect to talk about my 23-year-old brother in the same way.”
The woman standing next to Zafra had nothing to do with her. They came when they realized that the martian was buried. Dozens of other strangers also gathered around the newly dug tomb to express their prayers and express their prayers. I asked one of the two women who met eye on propaganda we had heard at a Persian media outlet based in the West that the war was a war in the Islamic Republic and that the lack of religious people should distance themselves from the military. “We are here for our country. It doesn’t matter what your religious or political background is. As for Iran, we are all ready to fight for it and give up on life,” she said.
Creating division and separation was indeed a key agenda for the enemy during the 12-day war that unfolded against Iran. The Americans and Israelites came out to the abdicated Shah’s son and announced he was ready to take over. The unemployed, paranoid former crown prince is now known as the “old man” in Iran. It is an adjective given to him after a prominent Iranian scholar supported a war with his country.
However, during the war, the bonds of Iranian humans were only strengthened. After Trump said people should “evacuate Tehran,” millions of people across the country went to social media to announce that they are ready to host fellow Iranians in their homes. On the streets, residents came out to provide drinks and food to security forces looking for potential Mossad agents. At grocery stores and gas stations, people were careful not to buy more than they needed, so they didn’t cause artificial shortages of goods or fuel.
Military and political authorities on Tuesday and Wednesday all praised this unity and patriotism as the core of Iran’s victory over Israel. Israel began a war against Iran, believing it could overthrow the government, destabilize the nation, and erase military and infrastructure.
When I returned to my residence in eastern Tehran, one of my neighbors brought me a “nazri”. “We asked to unite and defeat the enemy,” my neighbor said. She is a woman approaching the 70s. She said that the unity and peers witnessed on her last day reminded her of the times of the Iran-Iraq war. “As long as Iranians exist, I think protecting the country is paramount to them. No one can take this from us.”