Opening Speech of the Conference Secretary in the 12th National Oral History Conference of Iran

12th Conference on Oral History of Industry, Engineering and Holly Defense Support (18 December 2019, University of Isfahan):

Ali Akbar Kajbaf
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2019-12-24

The oral history of the Holly Defense and the imposed war is a new and fascinating work in the field of historiography and recording the events of the Holly Defense. Considering that the Holly Defense is a public, mass, and universal subject it requires due recognition of all aspects, organizations, and institutions and various aspects of the war and the sciences of the Holly Defense to compile and compose relevant material and essential measures shall be taken to record and analyze such incidents. As the Supreme Leader considers the Holly Defense as a national treasure, its various dimensions must be extracted and introduced. Therefore, it is our duty to reconstruct, identify, and recognize the Holly Defense from various perspectives. It will be a sacred and eternal effort to record the memory of the martyrs, the liberated war veterans and all the elements involved in the sacred defense as a great national historical capital.

Therefore, the oral history of war and the Holly Defense is one of the various types of oral history and is of particular value. It is one of the most important tools in the construction of the history of our time that needs to be universalized and transformed into a collective function rather than individual.

In honor of the sacrifices of the soldiers, martyrs, and all actors that contributed in the Holly Defense and to transfer the experience to future generations, the University of Isfahan is honored by the honorable members of the Department of History and in partnership with the Iranian Oral History Association, the Department of Veterans of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad and the  Isfahan Steel Company, with the support of 12 other institutions to hold a National Conference on Oral History of the Holly Defense on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at the Saeb Hall of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Isfahan. The purpose of this reflection is to recognize and restore the priorities of oral history in the areas of reconstruction jihad, industry, engineering, and the Holly Defense. The program will examine the seven-aspects of documentations and administrative archives of dedicated units of the Holly Defense in various administrations, industry, innovation and initiations, military dispatch and logistics, administrative and law enforcement, defense and engineering warfare, and other related topics.

After the announcement and submission of the call for papers to various research centers and universities in Iran, scholars and researchers honored us with over 32 abstracts submitted to the conference secretariat. Upon review and evaluation of the abstracts, the results were announced to the authors, and finally more than 20 articles were submitted to the Secretariat. The careful review and vetting of the selected articles were conducted by a jury comprised of esteemed professors of the faculty of history, professors, researchers, and other experts and the some articles were selected based on the jury rating for publication and presentation in the conference.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following individuals for their efforts and dedication in supporting us in the arrangement of this conference including Dr. Hushang Talebi, President of the University of Isfahan, Dr. Roknizadeh, Vice-President of Research and Technology of the University of Isfahan, Dr. Morteza Dehghannejad, Head of the faculty of Literature and Humanities Sciences of the University of Isfahan, Dr. Morteza Nouraei Scientific Secretary, Mr. Seyyed Hamzeh Razavi, Honorable Director of the Department of Veterans of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad (and his other colleagues including Dr. Hojjat Tarshizi and Dr. Abdollah Fatehi, Mr. Asgar Norouzi, Dr. Rashid Karegar, and Mr. Alireza Bargahi), Mr. Mohsen Kazemi Secretary of Iranian Oral History Association, Hojjatoleslam Saeed Fakhrzadeh, Mr. Alireza Kamari, Dr. Gholamreza Azizi, professor Morteza Rasoolipour, the honorable commander of Saheb Al-zaman brigade, Brigadier General Fada, the honorable commander of Seyyed al-Shohada brigade, Brigadier General Dr. Javad Esteki, Managing Director of Esfahan Steel Company, Mr. Yazdizadeh Mr. and Mr. Amiri Manager of the Public Relations of the Isfahan Steel Company, the Honorable Commander of the Foundation of Conservation and Publication of the Holy Defense Virtues of Esfahan, Brigadier General Shirvanian, 44th Army Regiment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Colonel Mihan Doust and Dr. Ali Tateri from the Library of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Dr. Ali Akbar Jafari, Honorable Director of the Department of History and Executive Secretary of the Conference, Dr. Asghar Montazam Al-Qaem the manager of the scientific department of Safavid Era Shiite Civilization and Cultural studies, and all Honorable Members of the Department of History and Director General of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Esfahan Province Dr. Fereydoon Allahayari, Honorable President of the National Library and Documentation Organization of Iran, Mr. Masoud Kasiri, the Iranian Local History Association, Saheb Zaman Corps, Isfahan Trench-builders Association, Najaf Ashraf Division 8, Isfahan Province Art Department, Everlasting Narratives Institute of Imam Hussein 14th Division Operational Planning Center, the Bureau of the Veterans of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad of Isfahan, the Isfahan Islamic Revolutionary and Holly Defense Guards, and the Secretariat of the Conference, in particular Ms. Akram Shasnaie, Ms. Efat Rafiee, and Mr. Majid Norouzi, Mr. Morad Kiani, Ms. Mahboubeh Alian.

Sincerely,

Ali Akbar Kajbaf(PhD)

Secretary of the 12th Conference on Oral History of Industry, Engineering and Holly Defense Support

(16 December 2019)