TEHRAN – Three museums featuring elements and properties involving the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, which is called ‘Sacred Defense’ in the Islamic Republic, will open to the public by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2022).

“Currently, 24 museums devoted to the Sacred Defense are operational across the country, and this number will reach 27 by the end of the year,” Mehr quoted deputy tourism minister Ali Darabi as saying on Friday.

For those interested to visit an epitome of frontlines elsewhere from the former battlefields, Iran embraces several destinations. The most famous ones in Tehran are 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 are on show. Currently, some 15 museums related to the Sacred Defense are active across the country.

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. It drew to a close in August 1988 and the United Nations declared Saddam as the initiator of the conflict.

AFM