Sacred Defense Week starts in Iran on September 21. The Week is annually celebrated nationwide in commemoration of martyrs and war veterans of the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in 1980-88.
Iraq’s eight years of the imposed war claimed lives of 230,000 Iranian soldiers and left near 600,000 war-disabled. At the same time, about 43,000 Iranians were Prisoners of War (PoWs) in Iraq and many others were Missing in Action (MIAs).
Braveness of the Iranian soldiers during those years of war is unprecedented in the history of contemporary conflicts.
Eight-year imposed war is an unforgettable period because all including young people or even teenagers gave all they had even their most valuable property - their lives - to fight against the enemies.
In Iran and Iraq war, Iranian women regardless of their gender and some social restrictions, took on defeding their homes along with men and soldiers the result of which was the creation of many great epics.
*** Women's role; Superheros in Sacred Defense
Given the importance of the role of women throughout history, many authors have investigated the role of women especially in the stories of the war period and the characters who live in Sacred Defense literature.
They have particularly been focusing on the role and characters of wives and mothers of the martyrs, war veterans, prisoners of war and women who stayed at home but helped frontline fighters.
Iranian women in Sacred Defense played a very effective role, regardless of their restrictions and physical situation.
Although, women combatants were less in numbers in comparison to male combatants; throughout all those years of the defense of a nation against enemy troops, history tells us that the presence of men in the battlefields was not the only factor which secured victory for Iran.
In fact, supporting male troopers; encouraging men to continuously attend warfronts; nursing the injured and treating wounds; and protection of the bastions behind the warfronts, directly influences the morale of the combatants, and even plays a decisive role in the fate of battles.
In the Sacred Defense, Iranian women handed over their jewelry and precious belongings to the combatants, they participated in political, social, and cultural activities, and showed the glorious presence of women in the eight-year Sacred Defense.
*** Women's role in Sacred Defense can't be ignored
An Iranian history professor in Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and the author of " Iranian Women and Gender in the Iran-Iraq War" book, Mohammad Farzaneh has tried his best to illustrate the remarkable role of Iranian women in the Sacred Defense.
Talking to IRNA, Farzaneh said noted that Iran had a female pilot - Shahla Dehbozorgi - in sacred defense, who for a short time did surveillance flights and was present in the logistics flights too.
We had "Leila Hassanzadeh", and in some other parts we have the mother of Martyr Hassan Shabani, who offered her home to volunteers.
In addition to the presence of women in the warfronts, Iranian women also carried out a wide range of relief operations, in order to support the courageous Iranian combatants, this university professor said.
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