The 346th Night of Memoir– 4

Compiled by: Leila Rostami
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2024-1-25

Note: The 346th Night of Memoir was held by the presence of the Ehya(revival) Group and members of the Holy Defense Combat Medical Institute in the Surah Hall of the Islamic Revolution Art Center on Thursday of the May 25, 2023. The narrators of this program were Sardar Ali Asghar Molla, Dr. Abdullah Saadat, Dr. Ahmed Ebadi and Dawood Khanazer. They reminisced about the Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem) and the liberation of Khorramshahr, focusing on the treatment of the wounded with minimal casualties. Dawood Salehi was in charge of this program.

The third narrator of the 346th Night of Memoir was Dr. Ahmed Ebadi, born in 1963 in Yazd. He entered the war in 1981 and in the early days of Iraq's attack on Iran. At the beginning of his speech, the narrator said: When the war started, I wanted to do something related to the war. I voluntarily attended training courses in Yazd Hospital and other places. Continuously and voluntarily, I went to the Sosangard war zone until the end of June 1981. At the end of April 1982, I was present in an operation called Tepehai Allah Akbar[1], which was carried out 15 kilometers from Bostan. I used to stand guard instead of others during relief nights. The mosquitoes did not let us sleep. He was no more than seventeen. I said to one of these doctors who was also a very famous surgeon: Why don't they do something behind the front lines? He said: They made pesticide, you are a child, and what did you do?!

In the end, this was the motivation that after that operation and when I became a soldier in early July, I was able to convince the officials that it must be something that mosquitoes hate. I didn't know what it was, but I felt it must be something to keep the mosquitoes away. They made fun of me. I was sent to a country where there was a malaria eradication agency, but no one picked me up. I came to Tehran. At that time,. Dr. Molla was in charge of the health of the whole army. I went to him and Dr. Ahmadiani, who was in charge of health. At the end of 1981, they said, come, we got a bunch of poison, take it and sprinkle it on the front.

The narrator went on to say about how to follow up and convince the officials: They gave me a series of introduction letters for Tehran University. In three of the faculties of Tehran University at that time, there were very prominent and well-educated professors, most of whom were in the Faculty of Health. Dr. Nadim was one of the prominent professors at that time, who also held a seat in the World Health Organization. He took care of me and helped me with interest. There were many in the Faculty of Pharmacy. Especially Mr. Pourshafiei took me seriously and approved my letter of recommendation. He said: "His words are not irrelevant and these things have happened in the world and the Americans also did them in the Vietnam War." Finally, I followed up at the university with a motorcycle and some letters in my hand.

Everyone suggested anything to get rid of the mosquito, and wherever it was, I went and tested the sample in the mosquito rack of the health school laboratory. For example, one offered bitter almond oil, one offered tobacco juice, and one offered something else, and of course many of these were rejected. Finally, five or six formulas that were classically tested by the professors of the Faculty of Science and Pharmacy were tested. In the world, its various models, including "Otan" made in Germany and "Odomoz" made in India, were tested with the American formula. Little by little, we reached a very good confirmed example of five or six combinations. Soon it was officially approved by the Ministry of Health and it was produced for the use of warriors. This product lasted up to eleven hours both psychologically and practically. For example, I remember we took a team from Tehran University's Health Faculty to the south and Dezful. The Najaf Ashraf Brigade, whose commander was martyr Ahmad Kazemi at that time, were in Dezful. We tested this drug there.

Continuing his speech, the narrator said since the arrival of this anti-mosquito drug in the hands of fighters: First, we conducted experiments in India and in the swamps of Mumbai where there were many mosquitoes on volunteer Iranian students. We would rub the medicine on their hands and then count the mosquito bites. The medicine reached the hands of the fighters almost at the end of 1982. At first, the formulation was a little weak and watery, but later it got better. Because the medicine was washed with water, it was very easy to use.

I was worried that Iraq would use chemical agents. With the encouragement of one or two people, I founded "Chemical Warfare Defense Organizations". No one believed or took it seriously. For example, we used to sit for hours to meet with the head of the IRGC's logistics, but he said that it had rained and the chemicals had been neutralized, and it would rain later. Little by little, we started with one person and within six months I organized eighteen people. In the Khyber operation, we were able to equip about two or three Toyota Land Cruisers with the systems used in firefighting, but we found out that it was not a chemical neutralizer. This work shined in the Khyber operation with the changes we made in the sprinkler systems and with the help of the retired military technical forces familiar with the subject that we found in those factories. I myself took a couple of Toyotas to the Majnoon area, which were good for neutralizing mustard gas and sprayed widely. Ultimately, its establishment led to the development of a branch in combat medical treatment called the medical support supply branch. I managed to convince the group that this should be transferred to the combat medical organization, which had a wide organizational scope. I got approval for this work from Mr. Fathian, who was in charge of combat medical at that time. I also introduced the person in charge there and with an immediate approval, this work turned into a large organization that is taught at the university.

At the end of his speech, the narrator said: Two or three times I had the opportunity to accompany a surveillance group that wanted to go to the heart of the Iraqis. We went behind the embankment of the Iraqis, where even their conversation could be heard. The main lookout was trying to fire artillery ammunition and mortars on the Iraqis from behind the wireless, but it was very difficult because they had not coordinated their code. By the time we figured out where to hit, the Iraqis took our place and we could hardly return. There, I was motivated to make the artillery so that the artillery observer could fire directly. In the following years, i.e. 1986 and 1986, this motivation entered the physics department of Tehran University. I built a mechanized system "130 anti-incendiary cannon" which was announced in the country in the spring of 2016. The old cannons had heavy ropes attached to them, which they stood at a distance from and pulled to fire, but the new mechanized system allowed the observer to automatically and wirelessly code, give the cannon coordinates, and fire.