Behesht Zahra is the largest cemetery in Iran, containing more than 1.6 million tombs, just south of Tehran. Most residents of the city are buried there – members of the IRI, ordinary folk, artists, former royalty, executed political dissidents, each in dedicated sections based on their status. When he lived in hiding, Soleimani’s father worked there, listening to the hearts of the deceased before burial, confirming death according to Islamic tradition. He was compelled to take this job after the 1979 revolution, when he could no longer safely continue working at the hospital. Her parents occupy a distinct place in the diaspora, opposing both the Shah and the Ayatollah; in the 1980s, many who shared their beliefs or tried to flee were killed, with a 1988 massacre of a scale only paralleled by the one which took place in January 2026.

The section depicted here was documented through photographs taken by friends and family still living in Iran. It contains the graves of political dissidents and freedom fighters, many of which remain desecrated to this day. Her father sits, contemplative, on a red and orange rug, the only splash of color in the earthen landscape. This rug is the first purchase he made for the safe house he shared with her mother, an object which survived alongside them when so many others didn’t. His face is covered with an oval of earth. From the soil in his hands, two blades of grass begin to grow.