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Khavaran cemetery is situated on a slope of a hill14 kilometers from Khorasan square and into the Khorasan highway. This barren and dry land was marked by a cement fence a few years back. One part of this cemetery has been designated for Indians, another for Armenians, and North West of it has been allocated to the Baha'is.

From the summer of 1981 onwards, the executed communist were also interred in this cemetery. They also transferred the remains of many of those who were previously buried in "Behesht-e-Zahra "* to this land.

The relatives of the deceased gather in Khavaran cemetery every week. Early Friday, at around five or six in the morning, they meet at Khorasan Gate and travel together by a minibus, or a similar vehicle, to the cemetery. Most of them are the mothers; young women and men do not usually show up, because every time the "pasdarans"** raid the cemetery they arrest a number of them and imprison them.

Sadly, the families are not told of the exact place of the grave; each family sits or stands at a specific place they feel their loved one may be buried. Others, through calculation of the date of execution, choose a certain row and spot as the gravesite of their loved one. When the dirt looks fresh it is indicative of a new burial. The graves are not dug deep enough; a few times a piece of clothing has stuck out of the graves. Once, a woman discovered a piece of her husbands clothing showing from under the dirt. She pushed the dirt asi... >>>