Whatever Comes Our Way

Memoir of Zahra Mirjalili, Literacy Movement Educator

The relief supplies from the Basij had arrived again. We placed them in a corner of the mosque to deal with after class. One of the learners suggested mixing the nuts together and dividing them into bags. Another chimed in, “This way, one bag might have too few pistachios, and another might have too many.” We agreed, and someone was tasked with counting the pistachios.

Tasua Day March in Paveh

The Tasua Day march, on December 10 of 1978, which was held in Tehran and all the cities of the country at the invitation of Ayatollah Taleghani, was a turning point in the history of the revolution. The people of Paveh also publicly announced their readiness to participate in this march, which, according to Imam Khomeini, was a public referendum of the people to end the Shah's reign, and responded to the nationwide call.

How Messages Were Sent from Komiteh Prison to Qasr Prison

One day, I encountered a prisoner in one of the cells, a sincere, religious, and committed young activist named Hashemian. Occasionally, he would start talking about his case: “Yes, there were many of us, and some of our group were arrested. Some have already completed their interrogations and have been transferred to Qasr Prison. Our activities have also been exposed and concluded. They’re planning to send me there as well.”

Operation Matla’olfajr

It was the last days of the month of Azar (December) and the garrison had the mood of an operation. A joint operation was supposed to be carried out by the IRGC and the army under the responsibility of Najaf Headquarters and the Army’s Leading Headquarters in the west. The movement to and from the garrison had increased. Finally, the operation began on 20th of Azar 1360 (December 11, 1981), on the Gilan-e Gharb and Sarpol-e Zahab area.

It is lunchtime; We are hungry very much!

The routine of our [Fatemeh Keshavarzian] rallies was that the boys would walk from their high school, located behind our school (school name: Mahboobeh Mottaheddin), to the girls’ school to go together to where they were supposed to rally. The brothers, as they had done in the previous days, approached our school and opened the door. I and a few female students who had been waiting for the revolutionary brothers to arrive, joined them.

Revealing the SAVAK Plans

One of our friends, Mr. Movahedi, had brought me a radio that could pick up all the news and information that the SAVAK agents were exchanging, and I wrote down a few things from there and conveyed them to the Imam through the late martyr Iraqi. One was a plan to encourage people in such a way that a group of people would infiltrate the people to attack the barracks and ...

Memoirs of Political Prisoners

An Excerpt from the Memoirs of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

It was night. The air had grown cold and dark. An army truck was parked beside the gendarmerie in Qom, waiting for me and two other gentlemen. Each of us was assigned two armed guards. Given the extreme unrest in Qom, they seemed eager to get us out of the city as quickly as possible.

Memoirs of Haj Abolfazl Almasi

One of the Islamic Revolution fighters in Qom

Salutations to all the warriors of Islam, followed by a loud blessing: "Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ‘ajil farajahum" This was the sound of women gathering in our home to collect public donations for the war front. It was the autumn of 1980, and the war had just begun. Streams of aid from the people were flowing toward the battlefields.

Memories of Monireh Armaghan; Wife of Martyr Mehdi Zainuddin

He said, “We are not in the south anymore, we are going to the west. There is not safe. I can't take you with me. You have to go back to Qom.” We didn't have a house in Qom, I went to my father's house. Later, he called and said, “I’m on the way. Go to my father's house, I will come too.” I remember that night well. His mother had made Fesenjan; Mehdi's favorite food.

Filming the crime of Shah's agents in morgue

On that day [9th of Dey 1357 in Mashhad – December 30, 1978], the whole city was in chaos; the hospitals, the shops, and in addition to these, the movie theatre was burning in fire. Even, I heard that some people had gone and set fire some centers such as "Iran-America Society" or the ones connected to the foreigners. The clashes continued till almost sunset.