TEHRAN – The collective rituals and cultural elements practiced to cherish anonymous martyrs has been named an intangible cultural heritage in Iran.

“Anonymous martyrs, operations to probe their bodies, funeral, and memorial services, and their pilgrimage rituals have collectively been inscribed on the national list for intangible cultural heritage,” CHTN reported.   

On Monday, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts declared the inscription through letters it submitted to the governors-general of all Iranian provinces, the report said.

Anonymous martyr (also called unidentified or unknown martyrs) is a term commonly used to refer to the remains of those Iranians who were killed in the 1980-88 Iran–Iraq War but could not be identified, due to various reasons.

More traditionally, the authorities used to rely on the uniforms, personal belongings, and the kind of gear used by a soldier to determine whether he is Iranian or not, but in recent years, there has been an increased use of DNA testing to make that determination.

In September 1980 the Iraqi army carefully advanced along a broad front into Khuzestan, taking Iran by surprise. Iraq’s troops captured the city of Khorramshahr but failed to take the important oil-refining center of Abadan. By December 1980 the Iraqi offensive had bogged down about 80–120 km inside Iran after meeting unexpectedly strong Iranian resistance.

In May 1982 Iranian forces recaptured Khorramshahr. Iraq voluntarily withdrew its forces from all captured Iranian territory soon after and began seeking a peace agreement with Iran.

In July 1987 the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 598, urging the two neighbors to accept a cease-fire, withdraw their forces to internationally recognized boundaries, and settle their frontier disputes by negotiations held under UN auspices.

The Iraqi-imposed war had been one of the most destructive conflicts of the late 20th century. The total number of combatants on both sides is unclear, but estimates of total casualties range from 1,000,000 to twice that number.

AFM