The 367th Night of Memory – 4

Compiled by: Iranian Oral History Website
Translator: Fazel Shirzad

2025-6-9

Note: The 367^th "Night of Memory" program was held on April 23 of 2025, coinciding with the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (PBUH), at the Andisheh Hall of the Arts Center of the Islamic Revolution. The event featured stories shared by several wives of medical corps veterans from the Holy Defense. The speakers included Mrs. Masoumeh Khatib, Ashraf Fard, Zahra Mazloumifar, Fatemeh Amrollahzadeh, and Fatemeh Habibi.

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The fifth narrator of the program was Mrs. Fatemeh Habibi, wife of the late Esmaeil Jabbari-Zadeh. She began her speech by saying: “I lived with the late Dr. Jabbari-Zadeh for 35 years. Even the hardships were sweet for me. Just two months before Operation Karbala-4, we had gotten married. He came and said, ‘I want to go to the front.’ I replied, ‘Please go. That was our agreement—that you could go to the front whenever you wished.’ So he went, but he came back soon after and took with him paramedics and medical personnel from East and West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Khoy to the front.”

“At first, he would call once every two weeks. During Operation Karbala-4, the calls became less frequent, and during Operation Karbala-5, martyrs were arriving every day. I had no news of him. Meanwhile, we received word that his sister’s grandson had been martyred, which increased our anxiety. We relied on God. At the mourning ceremony, people kept asking, ‘How do you have no news from your husband?!’ I would respond, ‘Well, it’s war—he can’t call me every minute.’ This worry continued until a week later when he finally called and said, ‘Don’t worry. I’m safe.’”

“The next morning, just before dawn, I heard someone putting a key in the garden door. I thought to myself, ‘Who could be coming in with a key?’ Suddenly, I saw a rifle come in first, followed by my husband with his dusty, bloodstained combat uniform and a long beard. I asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ He said, ‘The operation ended. They gave us leave, and I came straight home. Didn’t get the chance to change clothes—looks like that’s your job!’ And that became a sweet memory for me.”

To be continued...