lens culture
Mothers of patience
Fatemeh Behboudi

Mothers of patience

It’s many years that she merely cries when anguished and today due to her much crying, she cannot see anymore. It’s many years that she has hidden her pains behind a smile so that nobody knows what grief, love, pain and prospect have been hidden in her impatient heart. It’s many years that she has been living for others in silence… but no one knows that her sobs have obstructed her throat and she can no more say lullaby. She is a mother. A mother who is everyday hoping to receive a call or hear the sound of the doorbell so that maybe … one day, one person … brings some news from her lost son. The war between Iran and Iraq started on September 22, 1980, with Iraq's massive aggression against the Iraqi territories. The war lasted 8 years and over 200,000 Iranian soldiers were killed. The war which was called the longest classic battle of the 20th century ended in July 1988 after the two countries accepted the UN resolution 598. After the war, it was revealed that the bodies of over 10,000 Iranian soldiers had been missing and there is no sign of them. In recent years, the bodies of 7,000 Iranian martyrs have been found in the Iranian territories but due to their unknown identity they have been registered as anonymous martyrs and were buried by people. At present the bodies of 5,000 Iranians are still in the Iraqi territories. This is a story of the mothers of those missing Iranian martyrs after 25 years, narrating how they have spent their young years with pain, expectation, love and hope to find their sons. They are waiting to find the corpses of their children in the last days of their life without being informed of the passage of their young years Choosing this project was interesting to me since I was been born during this war and all of my childhood and youth were spent in the name of war. Every day I heard that the corpses of a large number of Iran-Iraq war martyrs have been brought … I went with my family to welcome the bodies of unknown martyrs and saw mothers who were searching for the bodies of their sons. Since then, many questions were formed in my mind about war: Why the wounds of war are so deep, whose pains are never forgotten? Why the victims of war are no more the same persons before this event? What change happens in them? And at last, what is the truth?. Conclusion: Wars are never stopped and blood is the heavy price that humans pay for their survival. In the middle of this, the survivors are those other victims, despite being alive, they sustain the most war damages. These include the mothers of those soldiers who have gone to war and the bodies of their sons who are never found.

Photos
37
Status
Public
Created
Apr 11, 2015
Updated
Jul 22, 2024
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#Mothers Of Paitence Iran And Iraq War Martyrs Fatemeh Behboudi

Photos (37)

Cover
No 2 : Anbar Jaberi (72), the mother of Nematollah Jaberi, has waited 23 years for her son. She still keeps doors open for him.
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Portrait of Anbar Jaberi (72), the mother of martyr Nematollah Jaberi, has waited 23 years for news of her son. She finds tranquility in giving food and water to her doves _ IRAN _ Illam
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Anbar Jaberi lives with her daughter and grandchild near the Iraq border. She says she goes out onto the moors with her grandchild every day to think of her son.
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Arrival of Iranian martyrs From Iraq to iran ... The martyrs were found in Iraq after 27 years _Shalamche border
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Every few months, the bodies of a number of unknown soldiers are discovered near the Iraq-Iran border. The funerals held for them are attended by many of the mothers and families of missing soldiers.No 8
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Many mothers keep their son's photos, clothes and other belongings, to help bring them solace. Anbar Jaberi (72) cries as she embraces some of her son Nematollah's clothing _IRAN_ Illam
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All mothers are crying for their sons ... They do not know about their sons. Where is the sons' bodies? Many mothers For crying Lost her sight .Anbar Jaberi (72), who has waited 23 years for news of her son Nematollah, weeps over his old clothes
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All mothers have kept Clothing and Letters of the her sons that These help mothers not forgeting their sons _ Notes and photos belonging to Mohammad Tajik, who was killed in the war when he was 18 years .Robabeh ali kahi 67 is waiting for 31 years _ IRAN _ varamin
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Many of mothers of the missing soldiers know nothing about the situation of their sons. Many years, they have been waiting for the return of their sons by leaving the door of their homes open or keeping the lights on. Bibi Paqeh, the mother of martyr Yahya Paqeh, kept the lights of her kitchen on (26 years)… hoping that her son can find the house when returning home one day _IRAN _ GORGAN
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Zahra Banazadeh (68), the mother of 19-year-old Hamidreza Raee Banazadeh, has waited for him for around 27 years. this mother about 27 year when she is sad .. go to this place and cry for her son . at this place she wanted that her family dont hear her cry .
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Martyr Hamidreza Ra'i bought a perfume and a small carpet for her mother which has portrayed the picture of Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Revolution. Hamidreza mounted the carpet on their home's wall before going to war. The small carpet has remained on the wall for the past 31 years and is among the little number of tokens which have remained for the mother.
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Azizeh Salari (78) is the mother of martyr Mostafa Salari (20). Her son was martyred in Kurdistan and the mother had been waiting for 26 years to hear a piece of news of Mostafa's body. Like many other mothers, Azizeh remains at home everyday and waits for a phone call so that she will hear a piece of news of her missed son _ Mazandaran
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A visage of Shahidabad village’s graveyard in Mazandaran province. 52 people of the village have been martyred and two of them have been lost. The martyrs don’t have any grave and only a memorial of them exists in the cemetery
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After 31 years of waiting, Zarrintaj Bahrami (72), the mother of Behrouz Sabouri, hears that a DNA test has identified her son’s body. Few mothers of missing martyrs hear such news
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Funeral of martyr Amrollah (15) after 32 years of waiting by People
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Ms Saltanat lak (65) mother of martyrs Amrollah (15) After 32 years waiting heard about her son body , last moment that mother say good bye to her son . amrollah identity with a DNA test was determined
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Funeral of martyr Amrollah (15) after 32 years of waiting by People
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Ms Saltanat lak (65) mother of martyrs Amrollah (15) After 32 years waiting heard about her son body , last moment that mother say good bye to her son . amrollah identity with a DNA test was determined
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Khadija Shabani (64) mother of Martyr H. Khalili after 31 years waiting .. in last moment looking at a piece of bone is her son _ Tehran
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Eshrat Tabatabayee (72), the mother of Ahmad Afshar, embraces her son's body after 30 years of waiting. He was identified by his ID tag
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Eshrat Tabatabayee (72), the mother of Ahmad Afshar, embraces her son's body after 30 years of waiting. He was identified by his ID tag
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In recent years, the bodies of about 7,000 Iranian martyrs have been found and they have been buried under the name of 'Unknown Martyrs' due to the lack of their identity. At present, over 5,000 other martyrs are still in the Iraqi territories whose corpses are found and brought to Iran every few months. The mothers and families of other martyrs welcome the unknown martyrs when they are brought to
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ibi Paqeh, mother of martyr Yahya Paqeh, waits for the body of her son to be returned for burial. Yahya’s body was found and identified 26 years after he went missing in action_ Gorgan
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Fatemeh Hassanzadeh (73), who has worked the land for some 60 years, sits beneath a tree her martyred son, Seyed Asgari, planted for her when he was 18 _ IRAN _ Mazandaran
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Shirin Fahimi (75), the mother of Safdar Fahimi, killed aged 21, has been waiting 27 years to recover her son’s body. Boushehr _
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Zahra Banazadeh (68), the mother of 19-year-old Hamidreza Raee Banazadeh, has waited for him for around 27 years. Every new year, she—as with many Iranians—visits a former war zone, such as this one near Shalamcheh, one of the main sites of the Iraqi invasion. Such locations are seen as holy ground.
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A landscape of Arvand River at Iran's borders and al-Faw region in Iraq. Many of the Iranian soldiers were killed in operations in this river and their bodies were floated towards the Persian Gulf. Al-Faw is one of the regions which still host the corpses of many Iranians who were killed in Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) _ Ahvaz
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