Behesht-e Zahra (Persian: بهشت زهرا, lit. The Paradise of Zahra, from Fatima az-Zahra) is the largest cemetery in Iran. Located in the southern part of metropolitan Tehran,[1] it is connected to the city by Tehran Metro Line 1.
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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 Tehran towards the direction of the city of Qom and opened on 29 June 1970 by mayor of Tehran, Gholamreza Nikpey.
Many of the deceased soldiers of the Iran–Iraq War were buried in the martyr's section of the graveyard.[2][3]
- Sādegh Rezāzādeh Shafagh (fa) (1895–1971) – politician and scholar
- Saeid Mālek Loqmān ol-Molk (fa) (1888–1972) – minister of health (1944–48) and senator
- Abdolrahmān Farāmarzi (1897–1972) – politician
- Hossein Navāb (1897–1972) – minister of foreign affairs (1952)
- Mozaffar A'lam (1882–1973) – politician
- Mohammad Sā'ed Sā'ed ol-Vozarā (1883–1973) – prime minister of Iran (1944) and (1948–50)
- Ahmad Ārāmesh (fa) (1908–1973) – minister of labour (1946–47)
- Rezā Tajaddod (fa) (1888–1974) – politician
- Abdolqādir Āzād (fa) (1891–1974) – politician
- Aligholi Hedāyat (fa) (1898–1974) – senator
- Mohammad-Ali Keshavārz Sadr Bahādor ol-Molk (1902–1974) – politician
- Hājar Tarbiat (1906–1974) – senator
- Ahmad Ali Sepehr (1889–1975) – politician and historian
- Nāser Āmeri (fa) (1928–1975) – politician
- Mohammad-Ali Dādvar (fa) (1903–1977) – politician
- Ahmad Bahādori (fa) (1911–1977) – senator
- Jahānshāh Samsām (fa) (1911–1977) – senator
- Mahmoud Jalili (fa) (1912–1977) – senator
- Amir-Abbās Hoveydā (1919–1979) – prime minister of Iran (1965–77) and leader of Rastakhiz party
- Mahmoud Jafariān (1928–1979) – director-general of National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT)
- Gholāmhossein Dāneshi (fa) (1936–1979) – politician
- Parviz Nikkhāh (1939–1979) – politician
- Sālār Jāff (fa) (1940–1979) – politician
- Najafgholi Moezzi Hesām od-Dowleh (fa) (1886–1980) – politician
- Habibollāh Amouzgār (fa) (1890–1980) – minister of education (1951) and senator
- Abolqāsem Najm (1892–1980) – minister of foreign affairs (1945–46)
- Nasrollāh Entezām (1900–1980) – diplomat
- Hossein-Ali Rāshed (fa) (1905–1980) – politician
- Farrokhroo Pārsā (1922–1980) – minister of education (1968–71)
- Anoushirvān Sepahbodi (1888–1981) – diplomat and minister of foreign affairs (1947)
- Javād Āmeri (1891–1981) – politician
- Allāh-Yār Sāleh (1897–1981) – diplomat and politician
- Abdolbāghi Shoāei (fa) (1903–1982) – minister of finance (1960–62)
- Mehdi Mashāyekhi (fa) (1905–1985) – mayor of Tehran (1945–46)
- Abbās Ārām (1906–1985) – minister of foreign affairs (1959–66)
- Shams Qanatābādi (fa) (1914–1987) – politician
- Amir-Teymour Kalāli (1894–1988) – minister of interior (1949–51)
- Ebrāhim Fakhrāei (fa) (1899–1988) – politician
- Zeynolābedin Rahnamā (fa) (1890–1989) – politician
- Mohammad Ali Vārasteh (1896–1989) – politician
- Hossein Joudat (1892–1990) – politician
- Abbāsqoli Golshāyān (fa) (1902–1990) – minister of finance (1948–50)
- Kāzem Hassibi (1906–1990) – politician
- Jahāngir Tafazzoli (1914–1990) – politician
- Shamseddin Amir-Alāei (1900–1994) – diplomat and politician
- Mehdi Āzar (1901–1994) – minister of education (1952–53)
- Ahmad Hooman (1909–1995) (fa) – minister of imperial court (1951)
- Azizollāh Malek-Esmāili (fa) (1903–1996) – politician
- Jahanshah Saleh (1905–1996) – physician and politician
- Jalāl Abdoh (de) (1909–1996) – diplomat
- Nosratollāh Kāsemi (fa) (1911–1996) – politician
- Parvin Soufi (fa) (d. 1997) – politician
- Vajihollāh Fāzel (fa) (1907–1998) – senator
- Gholāmali Farivar (1905–1998) – minister of industries and mines (1961)
- Shams-ol-Molouk Mosāheb (1922–1998) – senator
- Abolfazl Ghāzi (fa) (1931–1998) – minister of higher education (1978)
- Mehrangiz Manouchehriān (1906–2000) – lawyer and senator
- Hassan Shālchiān (1911–2000) – minister of roads and transportation
- Javād Sadr (fa) (1912–2000) – minister of interior (1963–66)
- Abolghāsem Tafazzoli (fa) (1921–2004) – politician
- Sabār Farmānfarmāiān (1912–2006) – minister of health (1953)
- Amir-Nosratollāh Bālākhānlou (1917–2007) – politician
- Mohammad-Ali Safi-Asfiā (1913–2008) – chief of Planning and Budget Organization (1962–68)
- Kāzem Oskouei (fa) (1919–2009) – politician
- Mohammad-Rezā Jalāli Nāeini (fa) (1916–2010) – senator
- Masoud Borzin (fa) (1920–2010) – director-general of NIRT
- Hassan-Ali Sāremi Kalāli (fa) (1926–2011) – politician
- Manouchehr Āgah (fa) (1930–2012) – politician
- Yahyā Sādeq Vaziri (1911–2013) – minister of justice (1979)
- Rahim Zehtābfar (fa) (1927–2013) – politician
- Rezā Kermāni (fa) (1934–2013) – politician
- Manouchehr Saeid Vaziri (fa) (1920–2014) – politician
- Hossein Falsafi (fa) (1919–2015) – politician
- Karim Mo'tamedi (fa) (1928–2018) – minister of communications (1974–79)
Politicians (Islamic Republic)
Actors, actresses and film directors
Businessmen and philanthropists
- Mohammad-Ali Mofarrah (fa) (1915–1983) – businessman and founder of Bank Saderat Iran
- Gholāmali Abidi (fa) (1920–2004) – scholar and businessman
- Mohammad-Taghi Barkhordār (1924–2012) – businessman
- Ahmad Atāei (fa) (1919–2013) – philanthropist
- Fereydoun Novin Farahbakhsh (fa) (1930–2013) – businessman and collector
- Mahāfarid Amir-Khosravi (1969–2014) – businessman
- Abdorrahim Jafari (fa) (1919–2015) – philanthropist
- Rezā Niāzmand (fa) (1921–2017) – philanthropist
- Asghar Ghandchi (1928–2019) – philanthropist
Others
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.[2] Similarly, a symbolic tomb was erected in the cemetery for Hezbollah member Imad Mughniyah, who was killed on 12 February 2008 in Damascus, Syria.[5]