TEHRAN – Chants of "Death to Israel!" echoed through the ancient streets of Kashan today as tens of thousands gathered to mourn eight Aerospace martyrs of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), killed in the Israeli regime’s 12-day war on Iran.

About twenty days after their martyrdom, the bodies of Mohammad Zolfagharpour Noushabadi, Hamid Jalali, Yaser Gholamalizadeh, Nosratollah Baharvand, Ali Alirezaei, Mohammad Khoshabpour, Meysam Fath Gharib, and Mohammad Ansari were carried aloft through a sea of clenched fists and tear-streaked faces, from 15 Khordad Square to Imam Khomeini Street, before finally reaching their resting place at Dar al-Salam Martyrs’ Cemetery.

The martyrs were honored as "guardians of Iran’s sovereignty" and "martyrs of the path to Al-Quds."

Women showered rose petals on the flag-draped coffins while men pounded their chests to hymns comparing the martyrs’ sacrifice to that of Imam Hussein’s companions at Karbala.

"They tried to break our wings, but our aerospace defenders became birds of paradise," wept Hashem Rezaei, 58, a veteran of the Imposed 1980s Iran-Iraq War.

The procession embodied Kashan’s legendary resilience—a city that has endured Mongol invasions and now stands defiant against modern aggressors.

During the ceremony, students held placards reading: "Zionist Terror: 12 Days of War, 26 Sons of Kashan Martyred."

As mourners dispersed, the lingering scent of golaab—Kashan’s millennia-old rosewater—testified to a heritage now indelibly intertwined with sacrifice.

The funeral closed with a tribute to martyr Zolfagharpour, whose body was transported to his birthplace, Noushabad, for burial.

At dusk, candlelit vigils glowed beneath Fin Garden’s ancient cypresses—the same garden where reformist Prime Minister Amir Kabir was martyred in 1852.

History, grief, and defiance here intertwine like the qanat waterways nourishing Iran’s soul.

"Kashan doesn’t forget," whispered an elderly woman at the cemetery gates. "And Israelis will never sleep soundly again."