One of the most important themes in contemporary Iranian war literature, particularly influenced by the eight‑year Iran–Iraq War known as the Sacred Defense, is the theme of war and the culture of sacrifice and martyrdom. The experience of war in Iran contributed to the formation of a cultural discourse centered on sacrifice and martyrdom. As a result, contemporary poets and writers have frequently addressed this theme both directly and indirectly in their works. This study examines the symbols of war and martyrdom in the poems of one of the most prominent contemporary poets, Houshang Ebtehaj, in order to answer the following questions: What symbolic approach does this poet adopt toward the concepts of war and martyrdom, and which symbols are most frequently used to express these ideas? The research was conducted using a descriptive‑analytical method. The findings indicate that Ebtehaj employs 31 different symbols in his poems, with a total frequency of 71 occurrences, to represent the concepts of war and martyrdom. Among these, the symbol of blood appears most frequently, occurring 22 times and representing the concept of martyrdom. In contrast, symbols such as flood, fire, bud, and deer appear least frequently, each occurring only once in the poems.