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 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 martyrs' section of the cemetery.
In 2025, satellite pictures emerged showing the cemetery's Lot 41, where victims of mass executions that occurred following the Iranian Revolution are buried, being paved over and converted into a parking area.

Notable burials

Royalty

Politicians (Pahlavi Era">Pahlavi Iran">Pahlavi Era)

Military personnel

Political dissidents

Politicians (Islamic Republic)

Scholars and journalists

Artists

Actors, actresses and film directors

Athletes

Businessmen and philanthropists

Others

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