Oral History News in September & October 2025

Compiled by Iranian Oral History Website
Translated by Fazel Shirzad

2025-11-3

Note: According to the Iranian Oral History website, the “Monthly News” section presents a series of reports reviewing news items related to oral history from print and online media. Below is a summary of the news for in August & October 2025.

► Hojjat al-Islam Mohammad-Mehdi Behdarvand told IBNA that the purpose of critiquing works is to improve narrative methods and develop new approaches in oral history, not to undermine the efforts of the IRGC Documentation Center. He emphasized that oral history, if presented with proper language and a humane narrative combining commanders’ personal lives with military events, can serve as an effective tool for research, youth education, and conveying the values of the Sacred Defense.

►The commander of the Karbala Corps of Mazandaran announced that the true and complete facts of the imposed war must be properly extracted and documented. He said that through compiling the oral history of the 25th Karbala Division, all acts of bravery and heroism should be preserved forever.

►Simultaneous with the Sacred Defense Week, 61 new books in the field of oral and narrative history were unveiled in Fars Province.

►The book “Alongside the Tulips”, the oral history of the devoted woman Sedigheh Sedaghi, was unveiled at the “Melodies of Devotion” conference with the presence of female veterans, Sacred Defense veterans, and provincial officials at the Museum of Sacred Defense of North Khorasan.

►A documentary titled “Oral History of Hamedan Municipality: From City Police to Municipality” was unveiled on October 2 with the presence of the mayor of Hamedan.

►The commander of the IRGC in Varzaneh County, during a speech before Friday prayers on the occasion of Sacred Defense Week, honored the martyrs’ memory and emphasized the necessity of recording the oral history of the war, transferring the culture of sacrifice to the younger generation, and recognizing the people’s unity as key to preserving the Revolution.

►The head of the National Archives and Library of the Islamic Republic of Iran thanked the governor of East Azerbaijan for initiating the oral history project of the province.

►The unveiling ceremony of the book series “Oral History of Qom Neighborhoods” was held on September 25, coinciding with Qom Day, to preserve the historical and cultural identity of old neighborhoods and collective memories of citizens.

►The unveiling of the book “Soldier Habib”, the oral history of the Zeinabiyoun Brigade recounting the memories of Commander Haj Sadegh Ashk-Talkh, was held in Kermanshah on September 25 during Sacred Defense Week.

►In an interview with Tasnim News Agency, Golali Babaei said that if we accept oral history as part of the war’s historical record, its major threat is distortion — a kind of falsification that undermines authenticity and damages historical truth.

►Babaei’s latest work, “We Depart Smiling”, the operational record of the Malek Ashtar Battalion of the 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division, has been published by 27th Be’that Publications.

►A session to review and critique the book “May My Body Not Exist” — the oral history of Brigadier General Dariush Yazdan-Seta, compiled by Fatemeh Ghanbari — was held on September 29 at the “Farewell” Hosseiniyeh of the Museum of Sacred Defense and Resistance in Mazandaran, attended by scholars, veterans, and narrators of the Sacred Defense.

►Filming of a documentary on the oral history of Martyr Major General Mahmoud Bagheri, a missile commander of the IRGC, has begun.

► On October 1^st, coinciding with the Sacred Defense Week and the Congress of 18,000 Martyrs of Razavi Khorasan Province, the book “From the University Campus to the Frontline: The Oral History of Mashhad University during the Sacred Defense” was unveiled at the Ferdowsi University Center for Eminent Figures.

►The head of the Office for the Preservation of Sacred Defense Works in Amol discussed ongoing and future projects, including oral history programs, the documentary “Mr. Jungle”, and the reference book “Jungle and the Epic of January 26.”

►The fifth “Memory” Oral History Session was held on October 1^st at Imam Khomeini Gallery in Isfahan.

► Mansour Zabityan told Khabar Online that his new program “Satoor” (“Cleaver”) is an attempt to record the oral history of censorship in culture and art. The program, presented with humor and narrative tone, revisits artists’ bitter and sometimes funny memories of creative restrictions, without aiming for revelation or moral lessons.

► The unveiling ceremony of the book “The Kind Commander”, the oral history of Commander Abdol-Mohammad Raoufinejad, leader of the 7th Vali-Asr Division during the Sacred Defense, was held on Wednesday, October 7, at the Center for Documentation, Research, and Publication of Sacred Defense Values and IRGC Endeavors.

►During his visit to Yazd for the centenary celebration of Iraj Afshar’s birth, the head of the National Archives and Library emphasized that conducting detailed oral history interviews with cultural and artistic figures is a priority for preserving their experiences and historical narratives.

►A meeting titled “Writing in Oral History” was held on October 13 with Morteza Sarhangi at the Art Bureau of Mazandaran Province.

►Ali Bahranipour, historian and faculty member at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, told Mirath Arya that documenting the oral history of southern Iran, especially Khuzestan, is of unique importance. He warned that if no action is taken within five years to record intangible heritage across the country, Iran risks “historical Alzheimer’s,” whereas such work can keep the nation’s cultural memory alive.

►The meeting of the Council of Veteran Clergy of the Sacred Defense of Razavi Khorasan was held at the Museum of Sacred Defense and Resistance.

►A review session for the book “A Tent in Ascension” by Naser Rostami was held on October 15, the third day of the 12th Great Book Fair of North Khorasan, providing an opportunity to revisit local and untold stories from the years of the Sacred Defense.

►Haj Ghasem Mehrnia, veteran poet, storyteller, and oral history researcher of North Khorasan Province, passed away.

►An Oral History Interview Workshop on the Sacred Defense was held on Thursday, October 22, with Golali Babaei and Javad Kamvar Bakhshaesh, attended by authors, researchers, and students at the Department of Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Values and Resistance in North Khorasan.