The 367th Night of Memory– 5

Compiled by: Iranian Oral History Website
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2025-6-16

Note: The 367th "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 sixth narrator of the program was Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, senior advisor to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and head of the Martyr Soleimani Research Institute for Sacred Defense Sciences and Teachings. Emphasizing the importance of storytelling, he said:

"After the war, I used to avoid talking about my wartime memories. The Leader of the Revolution told me several times: ‘Why don’t you share your memories?’ The last time, he even emphasized it with a gesture of his hand and said: *‘How many times do I have to tell you? People like you must recount their memories. Gather a group—ten or twenty former commanders who speak accurately—and launch a storytelling movement. Go to the training centers of the Army, IRGC, Ministry of Defense, and Police. Each year, 400,000 to 500,000 young soldiers and officers join these centers. They have never seen war. Go and tell them what war was like—how you fought and how the IRGC was formed.’"

General Rahim-Safavi continued: “We started this storytelling movement about 14 years ago. We selected twenty commanders from the Army and IRGC, and since then, we have been running a regular program in training centers. To ensure that memories are conveyed accurately, we designed a charter for the storytelling movement. The essence of this charter is about what to say and what not to say. When I presented this charter to the Leader, he skimmed through it and said: *‘The don’ts of this charter are more important than the do’s. Do not lie, do not exaggerate, and do not mention the internal disagreements that occurred during the war ".

He added: “Following the Leader’s order, I narrated my memories over seven years, covering the pre-revolution era, the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Kurdish conflict, the imposed war, and the formation of the IRGC. As memory fades with age, I referred to war documents from the IRGC's research center. I studied those documents to accurately portray the role of our dear comrades in the Army, Jihad Construction, and the Police. I kept God in mind as I spoke and wrote these memories."

Rahim-Safavi then shared a personal memory: “After the massacre at Shohada Square, I fled Iran and joined Imam Khomeini (RA) in France. A prominent figure once asked, ‘Imam criticizes us, saying: You want to protest, so why do you bring women? And if you bring women, why bring children?’ They asked how to respond. The Imam firmly replied: ‘Everyone must join this revolution—women, children, adults, young and old. Do not retreat even a step.”

He concluded: “Without the support of women—wives, mothers, and sisters—neither the Islamic Revolution would have succeeded nor would we have won the war. I truly believe that women, in all their roles, were partners in the great victories of the Revolution and Sacred Defense. Commanders were away from home for long periods. There were no mobile phones back then. During Operation Faw, I was 33 years old and the commander of the IRGC Ground Forces. We aimed to move seventy thousand troops across the Arvand River. I was worried because I had seen the operations of Kheibar and Badr. Along with Mohsen Rezaei, commander of the IRGC Navy, and the Air Force commander, we went to see Imam Khomeini. We spent over 30 minutes explaining the operation in detail. Our main concern was that while we might capture Faw, we weren’t sure we could hold it—or whether the Iraqis would push us back to the Arvand and the Persian Gulf. The Imam looked up; his eyes were incredibly piercing. He said—and this is recorded in the book Sahifeh-ye Noor—‘Ultimately, the true Commander-in-Chief is God. The same God who commanded you to pray, commanded you to defend. Be certain you will be victorious. I will come and pray with you too.’"

"I cried many times on the frontlines. My first tears came during the fall of Khorramshahr. People of Khorramshahr were walking on foot toward Abadan via the Mahshahr road. It was hot. They had no drinking water. We had some food and water in our vehicle. We got out and gave everything we had to them. Most of the lights in Abadan were out. The same in Susangerd. A city without people, without open schools or bakeries, is a ghost town. I was 28 when the war started, and I witnessed all of this."

The End