Iran's Nuclear Martyrs
A visit to the graves of two of Iran's nuclear scientists, who were assassinated, reveals popular support for the country's nuclear stance.
TEHRAN — Just beside the shrine of Imamzada Saleh, a son of Shiite Islam's eighth imam, lie the graves of two of Iran's assassinated nuclear scientists. Majid Shahriari and Daryush Rezainejad were killed in separate attacks in Tehran in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The burial of the scientists inside the fences of the shrine had symbolic meaning, just the same as building Fordow beside Qom (a previous piece elaborates on this), transforming the nuclear program from a case to a cause.
Before the grave, there was a group of people reading prayers, a woman among them in tears, beside her a little girl was placing her hands on the grave. I asked the woman in my broken Farsi if she were a relative of the slain scientist. To my surprise, she shook her head, then looked at me as if I had insulted her: "This is one of this nation's heroes; he gave his blood for us to progress and be among the advanced nations of the world," she said. "Anytime I'm here to visit imamzadeh, I pass as many others do to pay him and his brothers respect."
I thought it was an opportunity to ask her as an ordinary Iranian on her thoughts about the nuclear negotiations in Geneva. "Our government knows the suffering we are going through because of the sanctions; we paid a lot, these young men paid blood," she said, adding, "So we aren't going to allow any concessions on our right to have nuclear technology. This isn't the government's nor the regime's, it's the Iranian nation's right."
While she was talking, a young man with a modern look came up, jumping into the conversation: "I didn't vote in the election because I don't believe in the whole system, but when it comes to the nuclear [issue], I can't but support our nation’s ambitions," he said. "Why can they (the West) have it and pressure us not to? I don't see a reason."
