Da (Mother) 121

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

The guard asked what we were doing there and how we’d gotten a weapon. I showed him the gun permit Mr. Mohammadi had given me. He read it, and I explained why we were there. After a moment, he wished us Godspeed and left. My first thought was to go to the hospital they had mentioned at the camp. Unaware the name had been changed, I asked where the Misaqiyeh Hospital was and how to get there.

Da (Mother) 120

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

First, we suggested the man’s mother, who was standing by the ambulance, but she seemed incapable. Though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I volunteered. I would never have forgiven myself if the woman had died giving birth. Once inside the ambulance, I noticed the woman was very distressed to have a man see her naked.

Da (Mother) 119

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

The clinic was nearly at the end of the main road of the camp. It was actually a shipping container, ten by five meters—perhaps more—with a bluish tile roof. The walls were painted white inside and out. The container was divided into two rooms. The larger of the two was also divided in two; on one side was an examination room and on the other a room with two beds used temporarily for patients.

Da (Mother) 118

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

Leaving the helicopter, we saw water on one side of us, and a desert flat with a road running down the middle on the other. Launches were moored by the shore where many people were waiting to board them. They were carrying as many of their household belongings as they could. Most were from families that had already been evacuated but had returned to rescue their possessions from the fires and falling debris.

Da (Mother) 117

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

We were about to start out on the road to camp when a jeep showed up with the same commandos, thirsting for our blood. They were just as stunned to see us as we were to see them. They pulled up, blocking our way and, asking nobody in particular, “How come they’re out?” One of them asked, “What are you doing here? Didn’t we hand you over last night?”

Da (Mother) 116

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

“That’s no excuse. Isn’t the Imam the leader of the country and all the Muslims of the world? Where do these gentlemen get off insulting him and disparaging our sacred beliefs? Why can’t they accept a reality as plain as day to everybody else!?” The officer said, “This is dangerous talk, especially in a place as isolated as this.” “We heard them defy the Imam and insult him,” the girls said.

Da (Mother) 115

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

They ordered everyone off the jetty and told us to return before daybreak when the craft was rescheduled to leave for Abadan. Soldiers got into their vehicles and left the jetty. We were at a loss as what to do. When we saw the commandos and Yaddi, we asked them, “What should we do? They won’t let us stay here. We have no way to getting back, and even if we did, we couldn’t get back here soon enough.”

Da (Mother) 114

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

There was a lot of arguing back and forth, but we finally returned to the camp. After a meal and a nap, we went back to the jetty in the late afternoon with the sun’s fury gone. Five of the commandos in Yaddi’s group had already flown off on the noon helicopter. Two of the commandos told me Yaddi and another man stayed behind trying to get passes for the rest.

Da (Mother) 113

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

After Yaddi finished what he had to do at the jetty, he drove us back to the camp. That night, after a dinner of potato omelet mother cooked and greens she had bought at Sar Bandar, our small room became wall-to-wall sleeping cushions. As there was no room for Mohsen, we sent him to Uncle Nad Ali’s. My back was killing me and I paced most of the night, trying to deal with the pain.

Da (Mother) 112

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

I didn’t know what to say. I thought: If that’s what the commandos are like, God save us from the commander! What was I thinking bringing the girls here? I wish I hadn’t. Then I had my answer: How long were they going to cover up Banisadr’s treachery. Sooner or later the people will have to find out why Khorramshahr fell.
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Destiny Had It So

Memoirs of Seyyed Nouraddin Afi
It was early October 1982, just two or three days before the commencement of the operation. A few of the lads, including Karim and Mahmoud Sattari—the two brothers—as well as my own brother Seyyed Sadegh, came over and said, "Come on, let's head towards the water." It was the first days of autumn, and the air was beginning to cool, but I didn’t decline their invitation and set off with them.
Oral History School – 7

The interviewer is the best compiler

According to Oral History Website, Dr. Morteza Rasoulipour in the framework of four online sessions described the topic “Compilation in Oral History” in the second half of the month of Mordad (August 2024). It has been organized by the Iranian History Association. In continuation, a selection of the teaching will be retold:
An Excerpt from the Narratives of Andimeshk Women on Washing Clothes During the Sacred Defense

The Last Day of Summer, 1980

We had livestock. We would move between summer and winter pastures. I was alone in managing everything: tending to the herd and overseeing my children’s education. I purchased a house in the city for the children and hired a shepherd to watch over the animals, bringing them near the Karkheh River. Alongside other herders, we pitched tents.

Memoirs of Commander Mohammad Jafar Asadi about Ayatollah Madani

As I previously mentioned, alongside Mehdi, as a revolutionary young man, there was also a cleric in Nurabad, a Sayyid, whose identity we had to approach with caution, following the group’s security protocols, to ascertain who he truly was. We assigned Hajj Mousa Rezazadeh, a local shopkeeper in Nurabad, who had already cooperated with us, ...