TEHRAN - A selection of eight memorials, elements, and properties involving the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, which is marked as “Sacred Defense” in the Islamic Republic, has recently been added to the national heritage list.

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism on Saturday officially declared the inscriptions to the governor-general of Khuzestan province, CHTN reported.

Located (or being kept) in the southwestern province, which lies at the head of the Persian Gulf and bordering Iraq on the west, the new entries include a water tank, an embankment, a military structure, an underground hospital, a school, and some memorials and elements which are available in a mosque and garrison.

In an attempt to annex the oil-rich Khuzestan, Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered the attack nearly 19 months after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, setting the stage for an eight year-war. The Iraqi forces in 1980 invaded and occupied the western parts of Khuzestan, including the city of Khorramshahr, and bombed the oil refineries at Abadan. But Iran’s resistance quickly stiffened, and the Iranians had recaptured the region by 1982. The war drew to a close in August 1988 and the United Nations declared Saddam as the initiator of the conflict.

For those interested to visit an epitome of frontlines elsewhere from the former battlefields, Tehran embraces several destinations; the Sacred Defense Museum, Tehran Peace Museum, and Behesht-e Zahra—a graveyard where many of the martyrs are buried. The epic-scale Sacred Defense Museum does bargain something different in modern Iranian history where you can delve into wreckages of rockets, tanks, rifles, vessels, mortars, radars, air defense systems, grounded jets, military supplies, and artillery pieces amongst others.

The Sacred Defense Museum is equipped with a state-of-the-art visual system including projections and video walls, while audio recordings relevant to each period contribute to its charm. The complex has vast garden areas, water features, and children’s play areas. Outside, a patchwork of domestically-manufactured armaments such as rockets, tanks, and artillery pieces is on show. Currently, some 15 museums related to the Sacred Defense are active across the country.

AFM