NOVANEWS
by Arash Karami
The granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Naeimeh Eshraghi, has faced criticism both from hard-line Iranian media and on social media after reportedly writing a joke about the widows of the Iran-Iraq war, revealing raw wounds from one of the most difficult and dark eras of Iranian modern history.
Eshraghi, who has since closed her Facebook account, initially wrote a joke on her page. In the comments section, another joke, which Eshraghi later claimed was written by a fake account pretending to be her, was written:
“Another joke we used to tell for Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] and he always jokingly referred to. Imam Khomeini: Hey Pasdaran [Revolutionary Guard], marry the widows of the martyrs. I wish I was a Pasdar.”
The war, which many believe killed half a million Iranians alone, left many widows unable to provide for themselves and their families. Some remarried when their husbands died; however, this topic has always been a sensitive issue.
The Iran-Iraq war, which is called the “Sacred Defense” or the “Imposed War” in Iran, plays a large part in both the discourse of the Islamic Republic and the psyche of many war veterans (who are now the commanders of the Revolutionary Guard) who have formulated an “Us Against the World” mentality, given that most of the world powers supported Iraq during the war. Today, many of the dead from the war have had their murals painted on the sides of buildings and many streets have been named after them.
Immediately after the Facebook comment, many Iranians shared screenshots of the comment on their Facebook pages, condemning her.
Iranian journalist currently living in London, Masih Alinejad, who has been at the forefront of interviewing the family members of those who have lost their lives during the 2009 Green Movement, addressed Eshraghi directly. “This sentence you wrote about the wives of martyrs is cheap,” Alinejad wrote on her Facebook page. “This sentence is sickening and it is not comedy, it is not a joke. What you have written means that during the time that my own brothers and the brothers and fathers of others were at war such jokes were being told at ‘Imam’s’ house.”
Alinejad rejected the claim that it was written by a fake account, saying that she clicked on the name of the person that made that comment and it went back to Eshraghi’s original profile.
Fars News published a letter by the son of martyr Mohammad Ebrahim Hematcondemning Eshraghi for her joke. He wrote, “The first thing that comes to mind when one reads her post, is that when the children of this country were being torn to pieces by bullets, bombs and mortars, the leader, at whose command many went to the frontline, was making ugly jokes about them and their families.”
He continued that when this type of “shameful joke” is made, one would have to “lack sense and understanding,” to not realize that these types of comments make it less likely that during the “next war” intended to divide Iran, people will not be willing to defend their country. The letter ended with a threat that those around her should make sure that she “corrected her speech.”
In response to the letter by Hemat’s son, Eshraghi praised the efforts of martyrs such as Mohammad Ebrahim Hemat and said that peace which Iranians live with today is the result of the difficulties they endured. She also denied that the page belonged to her and wrote that she was closing her Facebook account.
Eshraghi, who has since closed her Facebook account, initially wrote a joke on her page. In the comments section, another joke, which Eshraghi later claimed was written by a fake account pretending to be her, was written:
“Another joke we used to tell for Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] and he always jokingly referred to. Imam Khomeini: Hey Pasdaran [Revolutionary Guard], marry the widows of the martyrs. I wish I was a Pasdar.”
The war, which many believe killed half a million Iranians alone, left many widows unable to provide for themselves and their families. Some remarried when their husbands died; however, this topic has always been a sensitive issue.
The Iran-Iraq war, which is called the “Sacred Defense” or the “Imposed War” in Iran, plays a large part in both the discourse of the Islamic Republic and the psyche of many war veterans (who are now the commanders of the Revolutionary Guard) who have formulated an “Us Against the World” mentality, given that most of the world powers supported Iraq during the war. Today, many of the dead from the war have had their murals painted on the sides of buildings and many streets have been named after them.
Immediately after the Facebook comment, many Iranians shared screenshots of the comment on their Facebook pages, condemning her.
Iranian journalist currently living in London, Masih Alinejad, who has been at the forefront of interviewing the family members of those who have lost their lives during the 2009 Green Movement, addressed Eshraghi directly. “This sentence you wrote about the wives of martyrs is cheap,” Alinejad wrote on her Facebook page. “This sentence is sickening and it is not comedy, it is not a joke. What you have written means that during the time that my own brothers and the brothers and fathers of others were at war such jokes were being told at ‘Imam’s’ house.”
Alinejad rejected the claim that it was written by a fake account, saying that she clicked on the name of the person that made that comment and it went back to Eshraghi’s original profile.
Fars News published a letter by the son of martyr Mohammad Ebrahim Hematcondemning Eshraghi for her joke. He wrote, “The first thing that comes to mind when one reads her post, is that when the children of this country were being torn to pieces by bullets, bombs and mortars, the leader, at whose command many went to the frontline, was making ugly jokes about them and their families.”
He continued that when this type of “shameful joke” is made, one would have to “lack sense and understanding,” to not realize that these types of comments make it less likely that during the “next war” intended to divide Iran, people will not be willing to defend their country. The letter ended with a threat that those around her should make sure that she “corrected her speech.”
In response to the letter by Hemat’s son, Eshraghi praised the efforts of martyrs such as Mohammad Ebrahim Hemat and said that peace which Iranians live with today is the result of the difficulties they endured. She also denied that the page belonged to her and wrote that she was closing her Facebook account.
