Director: Dariush Farhang

Cast: Azita Hajian, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Davood Rashidi, Bijan Amkanian, Mehdi Miami

Rahe Eftekhar is a 1994 Iranian war drama directed by Dariush Farhang, based on a remarkable true story from the Iran-Iraq War. The film portrays how two Iranian engineers carried out a classified project that shielded three of the country's most vital oil refineries from 32 enemy bombing runs throughout the conflict.

What is Rahe Eftekhatr about?

During the Iran-Iraq War, enemy aircraft target the heart of Iran's petroleum infrastructure repeatedly, striking three major refineries dozens of times. Yet the facilities keep operating — a fact that baffles the enemy and protects the national war effort. Two Iranian engineers quietly execute a covert engineering plan so effective that its existence remains unknown to the outside world until long after the ceasefire. The film reconstructs their ingenuity under fire, showing ordinary technical professionals making decisions with enormous strategic consequences while the country's survival hangs in the balance. The secret they carry defines the meaning of the film's title.

Cast & crew

Director Dariush Farhang brings a documentary-influenced authenticity to the wartime setting. The ensemble includes Azita Hajian and veterans of Iranian cinema Jamshid Mashayekhi and Davood Rashidi, alongside Bijan Amkanian, Mehdi Miami, and Behzad Farahani — a cast that grounds the story in credible, lived-in performances rather than wartime spectacle.

Context & significance

Made in 1994, just a few years after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Rahe Eftekhar belongs to a tradition of Iranian cinema that documented the conflict through individual human stories rather than battlefield epics. For diaspora viewers who lived through that era or grew up hearing family accounts of the war years, the film offers a rare window into the civilian and technical contributions that rarely appear in official histories. The story of engineers protecting infrastructure is both specific and universal — a tribute to quiet heroism. Films like this preserve a layer of collective memory that binds Iranians across borders and generations.

Where & how to watch

Rahe Eftekhar is available to stream on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on your TV, computer, or phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, and no extra download needed. Start or cancel anytime.