Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (24)

Edited by Mohsen Kazemi

Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (24)
Edited by Mohsen Kazemi
Soureh Mehr Publishing Company
(Original Text in Persian, 2000)
Translated by Mohammad Karimi

Rain in Dessert

Hezbollah

On 6th of Ramadan 1387 SH (Dec 8th 1967), Abbas Agha Zamani (1) a friend of mine in INP came to my home and after the greetings asked me to go with him somewhere in Tehran suburbs to tell some important to me. When I came out of the house I could see that Ali Reza Sepasi Ashtiani was also in the car. Abbas had a Benz-170. I did greetings with him too and we went. Where? They did not tell me at first.
On the way Abbas Agha Zamani talked about what we were and what had to do. He said: “Ahmad! We did not go to prison to get familiar with some friends or fast or worship and then return back to normal life and consider the story of fight a finished one. No. We have a more important task and that is to continue our fight which we believe in. As long as repression exists we should also continue our fight against it…”
Then we entered the Khavaran Road in eastern Tehran. There were many brick kilns in that district. Before going out of the Islamic area limitations for keeping our fast, we went to a close brisk kiln a bit far from the main road. There was a ruined building which was called Haroun (Aaron) Prison (2). We stopped there and went near to a tree beside the small river and sat. After a long syllogistic speech said the palls inside prison had sent messages to say that our job is not over yet despite coming out of prison. You are the ones who continue the path of people who are still in prison and under torture. Renew your activities to accompany the ones who are in prison. Agha Zamani emphasized we should begin again but with more exactness and cleverness and at the same time follow the process for self-righteousness. This is the beginning…
Abbas’s speech would include our own concerns either. We expressed our ideas while confirming his speech. So we decided to establish a new body to fight against the Pahlavi regime by a military strategy. We had three main points in mind:
1- Continuation the fight based on the previous experience;
2- Self and group righteousness and getting ready to face the regime at each moment;
3- The need for a concrete organization and clarifying the framework of the tasks for each member;
We continued our discussions and reached to the following results:
- The new organization should not have an office or particular place in order not to repeat INP experience.
- Avoid writing anything and count on mental contents and memories and memorizing the orders and programs.
-Inviting the freed (or to be freed) imprisoned fighters to join the new organization.
This way we constituted a new organization that we called “Hezbollah” based on the verses “Indeed, the party of Allah - they will be the predominant.”(3) and “Unquestionably, the party of Allah - they are the successful.” (4)
Our meeting would repeat in particular intervals. In each meeting we would discuss a chapter. Gradually Javad Mansouri, Ahmad Mansouri, Jamal Nikou Moghaddam, Abbas Douzdouzani, Mohammad Mofidi and Mohammad Baqer Abbassi joined our meetings and the discussions deepened.
In Hezbollah meetings it was assigned that each member should find a work in order to make cover for political activity and also funding the organization and himself. So, after Ramadan I went to Education Administration, District No. 10 of Tehran, and applied for my previous job. They sent my request to the ministry. After few days I went to secretariat of Education Ministry. They sent me to another room. In that room three people were sitting behind a table. They asked about the reason for my vacation and where I had been during that time. I answered that I had been in prison and I was not able to continue my job during this time and I wanted to get back to my normal life and I needed a job. One of them who seemed to be aware of my past asked: “You’ve been arrested because of violating the rule of not committing any attempt against the government and now you are disqualified to have any social activity and cannot have any governmental job; however, there are some ways to do so.”
I asked what kind of ways? And he said: “You return to your job, but you should report us who is doing suspicious deeds against the government. It is not too much; you just report their names. We want to control them in order not to be misled.”
From the very beginning I had known what they wanted and said: “No. Thanks. I won’t do such a thing. If you were interested to employ me as a teacher I am ready. But for such deeds, I’m not. I prefer to stay at home and enjoy eating and sleeping at last.”
They could not convince me to cooperate with them and finally I returned home without getting any result.
Abbas Agha Zamani could have occupied himself by working in unofficial classes in mosques and schools and Alireza Sepassi Ashtiani (5) had entered university and I was the only jobless.  After some time, being tired of such conditions my brother asked me: “What I you going to do at last?! Are you intended to work or not?” I said: “Yes, why not!”
The next day we went together to Mohammadi Tin Can Manufacturing Company in Tehran southern suburbs. Hadj Mahdi took me to Mr. Vajihullah Mohammadi the factory’s manager and owner and introduced me to him and told that I had been lately freed from prison and I was jobless. He asked him to give me a job in his factory. Mr. Mohammadi was a good Muslim believer and would look for good Muslim believers for his factory to work in it. He welcomed my employment.
This way I began my job in accounting section. After short time I found out the accounting section director was committing some unlawful acts when organizing the accounting reports. However, since I was a new employee there, I did not react and remained silent to get more information.
By this job I could earn about 18 Tomans daily which I would spend part of it for Hezbollah and the rest for my family’s expenses.

1- Abbas Agha Zamani known as Abu Sharif was born in 1939 in Tehran. He passed elementary and high school in Tehran. 1960 he entered Religious Studies School and at the same time began teaching in different schools. He was arrested because of membership in INP and remained in Qasr Prison till November 1967. When freed he entered Literature Faculty in Tehran University and studied Arabic language. After getting translation diploma he could enter Theology Faculty. In 1970 he could get BA in Islamic Law. He founded Hezbollah Group in 1967 along with Ahmad Ahmad and Alireza Sepassi Ashtiani and would hold classes for reading Koran and Arabic language in different mosques such as Sheikh Ali, Hadj Ahmad, and Hazrat Amir-ul-Mo’menin.
In the spring of 1968 he went to Austria and Germany because his father’s illness. In this travel he got acquainted with a group of Islamic Students Confederation members and leftist student movement and Fath Organization members. When he returned home he continued to strengthen the Hezbollah group cohesion and leadership. In 1971 he went to Middle East to make contacts with Palestinian Revolutionaries and 1972 he was arrested when coming back home through Bazargan borders. After three months of torture and hoaxing SAVAK agents could manage to get one month furlough and then escaped. He could go to Pakistan through Zahedan border after four days of walking in south eastern deserts in Iran. Then he went to Europe. After some time of accompanying Palestine Revolutionaries and passing guerilla training courses, he went to Lebanon.
Abu Sharif is among the pioneers of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. He also had the commandment of Western Front operation during Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) for some time and then was appointed as the commander in chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In September 1981 he was appointed and Iranian chargé d'affaires in Pakistan and in April 1982 promoted to the post of Iranian Ambassador there. When his mission was over, he became retired and went to Qum to continue his theological studies there. Later he went back to Pakistan.
Mr. Ahmad about his characteristics says: “Abu Sharif was a very hardline Muslim believer who would try to be a vanguard among his other friends. His resistance in front of troubles was exotic. Most of the time, he was fasting and would open his fast by a light and little food. He was famous to be everlasting fasting man. He was so radical in all affairs; he would eat, drink and sleep so little and work a lot and read a lot. He had a strong and clever body. Abbas was just like a tree grown in a salty dessert; hard and strong.
Most of the time, he was our Imam when saying public prayers. He was always looking for something to learn or teach. Sometime he would go to others to learn Islamic studies and sometime would teach other Jame’ al Moqaddamat (Book of introductory). He had found all Jihad verses in Koran and categorized them and would teach them to others. He was like an Islamic Encyclopedia for us. He was so eager to reach the goals and was always in hurry. 
2- Zendan Harun (Aaron Prison) is a stone construction from Buyids and Seljuq era located in 12 kilometers east of Tehran on the northern side of the old Khorasan road close to Zendan village in the foorhils of Mesgarabad Mountains. (Gholam-hussein Mossahab Farsi Encyclopedia)
3- Surat Al-Mā'idah, Verse 56
4- Surat Al-Mujādila, Verse 22
5- Alireza Sepassi Ashtiani son of Ab-ul-qassem was born in Ashtian in 1944. After high school he entered College of Fine Arts. In 1964 Asghar Ghoreyshi invited him to INP and a year later was arrested because of activity in INP against the national security. In 1967 he was freed along with Ahmad Ahmad and Abbas Agha Zamani. They founded the Hezbollah group and he began writing political texts and analytical reports for the group. He could finish his incomplete studies during these years. When in 1971 Hezbollah Organization was combined with MKO, he joined MKO and in August 1972 cooperated with Mohammad Mofidi, Mohammad Baqer Abbasi to assassinate General Taheri. When the other two were arrested he began secret living.
Sepassi Ashtinai was a radical hot-tempered emotional ambitious megalomaniac proud and audacious person. Because of his radicalness he could promote the organization levels so soon and in 1974 became MKO central cadre member. In 1975 when MKO decided to change the ideology under the leadership of Taqi Shahram, he followed the Marxists trend and began omitting and killing the ones who did not accept the ideological change. He continued his secret life till 1979 in Taqi Shahran group called: “Peykar dar rah-e Azadi Tabaghe Kargar” (battle for the freedom of workers’ class). After the Islamic Revolution he openly showed his opposition with the new regime and was arrested again in the winter of 1981. During his arrest he was a blasphemer and had fights with the guards repeatedly. Finally he was shot dead while trying to escape Evin prison.