SABAH (56)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Interviewed and Compiled by Fatemeh Doustkami
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2021-4-20

SABAH (56)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Interviewed and Compiled by Fatemeh Doustkami

Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

Published by Soore Mehr Publishing Co.

Persian Version 2019

Chapter twelve

Our aid team was lost. We had no update on Dr. Sa’adat for the past few days. I thought that he has gone out of Khorramshahr with aid team but this was not the case and we had no news about his whereabouts. We were all spiritually down. As long as we were in Khorramshahr, all our activities and tasks were focused. Every minute of our time was spent with the aim of aiding the injured and preserving the city, but now what?! We had no goal. We felt outsiders and homeless in Abadan. We had no connection to that city. We needed time to find ourselves; to get back on our feet and work. Therefore, we spent a few days in the hotel without any goal and wandered around but we were not ready to leave the area.

Allah Akbar and Abouzar team members often came to Karevansara and gave us some news about Khorramshahr. We had heard that on twenty ninth day of first month of autumn, Iraqis had progressed and reached two kilometers away from Abadan. The soldiers had taken shelter under the bridge from Kout Sheikh Side to stop the enemy from passing the bridge and enter Abadan. As they said on twenty ninth and thirtieth day of first month of autumn, there has been one-on-one fight and chase and escape in Chehel Metri Street.

On first and second day of second month of autumn, the Iraqis sieged the Governor’s Office building which was overlooking the Khorramshahr Bridge. They stationed three automatic arrow bars on the roof of the building and stopped the commuting on the bridge. They raided the slightest commute on the bridge. With this situation the communication between Khorramshahr and Abadan was cut. They had no access to the back of the front line. I was thinking about the injured whom we were not able to attend to and transfer them outside the city.

For one second I remembered the reciting of God is great by soldiers during attacks; this reciting had turned into a joke among some soldiers. They told the other in the mosque. What kind of attacking tactic is this? All over the world, the enemy is attacked in silence and surprised but you make a lot of noise and alert them and then attack them?!

It was obvious that they were angry with them. I heard them talking with a nervous tone. They compared themselves with young children although they were full trained in military and knew the tactics of the war; those children did not know how to hold a gun in their hands until a few days ago and work with it. Imagining the oppressed falling of the city in the hands of Iraqis and the fading away of God is Great slogans slowly, gave me a bad feeling.

One of those days, Dr. Sa’adat came to hotel. We were so happy to see him. There was an unwritten law among us. We believed that whoever disappears for a few days has either been martyred or prisoner. Dr. Sa’adat told us that he has been able to escape Khorramshahr with a lot of efforts from under the bridge and through the river. In the recent days, he had been with navy soldiers and commandoes in Kout Sheikh.

We heard hopeless stories from Khorramshahr. Those soldiers who commuted to the city told us that Major Sharif Nasab obliges a few soldiers who are not more than twenty and have stayed in mosque, to run in the yard of the mosque. He forces that to parade and hit their feet to the ground so that Iraqis do not think that people have left their city and only a few have stayed. Major Sharif Nasab and his dignity and pride had to be praise. We felt proud seeing him fight with hands bare of any forces and ammunition. He was resisting.

In the morning of either second or third day of second month of autumn, we woke up with the sound of sound barrier being broken and ran to the yard of caravansary. We saw two Iraqi fighter planes in the sky being followed by two Iranian fighter plans. We watched them and recited God is great. They had a beautiful and speedy chase and run. We were worried for our fighters. We were worried that the Iraqis might hit them. One of the Iranian planes targeted the Iraqi plane and it set ablaze in the sky and in a few seconds, fell in an area between the navy forces of Khorramshahr and Abadan and the smog raised to the sky. We were reciting God is great from the bottom of our hearts. The boys were clapping and laughing. The F4 pilot had given us a good and pleasant breakfast.

Until midnight of fourth day of second month of autumn the situation did not have any significant change. We only heard hopeless news from Khorramshahr and nothing else. We went to Taleghani hospital during day time and helped the nurses to treat the injured.

It was fourth day of second month of autumn. We woke up at four in the morning and heard the humming and crying voices of males from the yard. We ran to the yard. We saw Abbas Alivand and ten twelve members of Allah Akbar team. They had diving clothes on and were covered in mud and sludge. They were hitting their head and crying and saying the Khorramshahr has fallen.

We all started crying. Our cries could be heard all over the hotel. One of the Islamic Fadaiyan forces asked Alivand: “How did this happen? Tell us what has happened?”

He explained: “The soldiers were resisting until one two hours ago but when we saw that the Iraqis have sieged the city and only a few of us have left, we put diving clothes[1] on and went into the water with two boats to escape the city. There were a large number of soldiers in the boat and in the middle of the way, the boat turned upside down and we all fell in the water. Those who could swim survived and the rest drowned!”

Although we already knew that we will hear the news of the fall of city either today or tomorrow, but I do not know why we became all shocked. We were like a person who had lost a beloved one. We had all lost hope. After a while, we were calmer. We sat around and the soldiers started narrating what had happened. They said: “Around sunset, they ordered us from war bureau to evacuate Khorramshahr. The city has to be evacuated tonight or all who stay will be slaughtered. The soldiers do not agree to evacuate and say that they will stay in town until last second and we are not ready to leave the city. When they saw that we are resisting, they told us that Iraqis have sieged the bridge completely and we cannot provide forces and food to you. It is better to leave the city before you are held captive.”

We were all psychologically in a very bad state. If the situation continued like that, Iraqis would enter Abadan little by little. We only had hopes on Imam. We gave hope to each other and said that we should not grief as long as we have Imam and with hope to God, he will do something.

Although Mr.Hashemi did not know us well but he accepted us as aid workers. One day when he was standing in the yard and talking to his forces, I approached and greeted him and asked him if he had a minute to discuss something. His forces left us along. I told him: “Mr. Hashemi! Can you station aid team nearer to the places where your forces have control?” He said: “Why?” I said: “It will be much better. Both aid works will be delivered with more quality to your forces and our activities will be focused near the line.” He said: “It is a good idea. Let me see what I can do.”

All the rooms of Hotel Karevansara were full of Fadaiyan Islam forces. The atmosphere was quite manly, and we did not feel comfortable there. It was obvious that this issue is in the attention area of Mr. Hashemi and he wanted to station us in an area outside. This issue became more obvious, when two days later; Mr. Hashemi took me, Belgheys and two other female aid workers when he went to Kout Sheikh with his forces. He said: “Let’s go together and see whether we can find a suitable place for your settlement or not.”

The whole area of Kout Sheikh had turned into front and the soldiers were positioned against Iraqis. Fadaiyan Islam forces were active in a part of Kout Sheikh Front. On the way, near Behrouz alley, Mr. Hashemi asked us, while we were sitting in the back of a Toyota vehicle, all of a sudden: “In your opinion, in this war situation when there is no water and no condition and no time to say prayers, what should we do? When you see that in one minute thirty forty bullets of mortar bombs hit on both sides, what is your opinion about saying prayers?”

I answered immediately: “Saying prayers is an obligatory duty and there is no way not to perform it. If there is no water, we will do Tayammum. Finally in a short while, when we have time, we will say prayers.”

He said again: “in the chase and run situation when the shoes and military boots are on all the time, what will you do them?”

I said: “There is no need to take off the shoes and military boots. Even in chase and run situation, we much decide and stand and say our prayers.”

Mr. Hashemi smiled and said: “Well done sister. I really did not expect you to be so aware of the details of your religious duties at such a young age.”

I had no idea why he was asking us these questions. In my opinion, he wanted to evaluate our creed and profession. He did not expect to hear these answers from us. Maybe he thought that we do not know a lot from religious matters since we were only wearing scarves instead of chador. He had the right to think that way. In those days, there were hypocrites, Tudeh party, public movement and Mujahids all over the place and it was not obvious who belongs to which group and movement. Maybe he wanted to make sure to which group we belong.

In Abadan main entrance station and besides Kafisheh, a few antiaircraft had been stationed to confront the Iraqi planes. Before the war, we went to Friday prayers with the leadership of Mr. Jami near the same place that the antiaircraft had been located in the mosque near Amiri Street.

We entered Behrouz alley. The vehicle stopped in a corner and we got off. Near that place, Mr. Hashemi showed us a small house and said: “Yesterday, when we were here, I thought that his place could be suitable for your settlement. Let us go and look inside.”

To be continued …