Memories of Mr. Jalal Setareh
Compiled by Iranian Oral History Website
Translated by Fazel Shirzad
2026-5-18
Second Brigadier General of the Guards [Mr.] Jalal Setareh, Deputy of Maritime Operations of the Border Guard Command of the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (NAJA), was the guest of the 283rd episode of the "Night of Memories" program (September 2017). He shared memories about the Preliminary Dawn Operation and after the Dawn 8 Operation. He said:
"During the Preliminary Dawn Operation, in the first days we had gone, we would see holes dug resembling graves, and at night people would come and pray and worship in them. On the night of the Preliminary Dawn Operation, the enemy's relentless fire rained down on the battalion. When our battalion went into action and encountered this fire and the enemy's bullets, about one company of it remained. In this operation, the martyrdom of the battalion's propaganda officer (whose friends gave each other the good news of his martyrdom due to the radiance of his face) was the most remarkable. I saw with my own eyes that a mortar shell landed next to him, his body was thrown into the air, and he fell lifeless to the ground. This martyr was Seyyed Mansour Hosseini.
After the Dawn 8 Operation, we had to go to a place where we would take over the defensive lines from the previous battalion. I was asleep on the bus, and when I woke up, I saw that we were stopped next to the Faw Mosque. I asked my friends how we had crossed the Arvand [Shatt al-Arab]. They said they had built a bridge. I couldn't believe it, and in the morning when everyone was getting ready to go to the front line, I went to see that bridge with my own eyes. The efforts of the Jihad of Construction (Jahad-e Sazandegi) guys to build this bridge made me proud.
We moved towards the front lines. We had already identified the enemy's trenches ahead of us. It was dusk and fog was coming in. Before the fog became complete, we placed the Dushka [DShK heavy machine gun] on the trenches and set its angle. When the fog became complete, we fired, because they were pounding our line with all kinds of weapons.
In our battalion there were several Basijis. One of those Basijis, after being hit by shrapnel, shouted and said: 'Shrapnel, shrapnel, oh shrapnel...' No matter how much we asked which part of his body had been hit by shrapnel, he wouldn't answer. Later we found out that the shrapnel had hit his buttocks and he was embarrassed to say it.
A few days passed after this incident, and I noticed that several of the guys were pouring water on each other and performing the 'ghosl-e shahadat' (ritual ablution for martyrdom). I told them, 'The fire is heavy, go back to your trenches, we'll return in a few days.' One of them said, 'We are going tonight.' It wasn't 11 PM yet when the company messenger said that one of the trenches had been hit. When I arrived, I saw that all three of them were lying next to each other, smiling, having achieved martyrdom."
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So far, 378 episodes of the Sacred Defense “Night Memories" have been held by the Center for Studies and Research on the Culture and Literature of Resistance and the Office of Literature and Art of Resistance of the Arts Center (Howzeh Honari). The next program will be held on Thursday, May 28 of 2026.
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