Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tarmac is all that remains of the Shah's big party in 1971.
celebrate the 2,500-year anniversary of the Persian Empire—and to remind
the world that he was the latest in a long string of great kings who ruled
Persia with the omnipotence of a modern-day Xerxes or Darius. h e Shah
l ew in dignitaries from all over the world, along with dinner from Maxim's
in Paris, one of the i nest restaurants in Europe. Iranian historians consider
this arrogant display of imperial wealth and Western decadence—which so
of ended his poverty-stricken subjects—the beginning of the end for the
Shah. Within a decade, he was gone and Khomeini was in. It's my hunch
that the ugly asphalt remains of the Shah's party are left here so visiting
locals can remember who their Revolution overthrew.
Martyrs' Cemetery: Countless Deaths for God and Country
I make a point to visit war cemeteries in my travels. h ey always seem to
come with a healthy dose of God—as if dying for God and country makes a
soldier's death more meaningful than just dying for country. h
at is certainly
true at Iran's many martyrs' cemeteries.
Most estimates are that there were over a million casualties in the
Iran-Iraq War. While the United States lives with the scars of Vietnam,
the same generation of Iranians lives with the scars of its war with Iraq—in
which they, with one-quarter our population, suffered three times the
deaths. Iran considers anyone who dies defending the country to be a hero
and a martyr. h is bloody conl ict left each Iranian city with a vast martyrs'
cemetery. Tombs seem to go on forever, and each one has a portrait of the
martyr and l ies a green, white, and red Iranian l ag. All the death dates are
from 1980 to 1988.
