The Iraq-Iran war claimed so many lives. But this is a story about how it brought two lives together.
Also known as the Gulf War before the Persian Gulf War of the 1990s, it lasted 8 years, from 1980 to 1988. It tore almost a million people from their families and their futures. And in that chaos, two men — one Iraqi and one Iranian — met for the first time … and then again 20 years later, under amazing circumstances:
<span class=”redactor-invisible-space”></span>These men’s lifelines became inextricably linked on the battlefield.
Unbelievable, right? These two men were enemies on the battlefield. But when Iranian Zahed Haftlang (who was only 13 at the time) came across an injured Iraqi soldier Najah Aboud, he could have just shot him and gone on his way. Instead, he decided to go through his pockets. It was there he found Najah’s Quran.
When he picked up the book, he saw Najah’s girlfriend and her child’s picture in the injured soldier’s pocket. It was then that he became another human to him. And that he realized that human had a family.
Compassion isn’t usually the first thing on someone’s mind in a situation like they were. Even in a time where Zahed’s orders were to kill every enemy, he found it in his heart to spare Najah.
In war, too often we think of death and death only, but there are many stories about life in war, just like this.
