The Destruction of the Kourosh Cinema in Firuzabad during the Revolution

Based on Three Narratives and Four Memories

Compiled by: Jafar Golshan Roghani
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2025-02-02

Cinemas played a significant role in spreading the Pahlavi culture by showing various and diverse Iranian and foreign films, which were generally accompanied by dance, singing, and immoral scenes. The screening of many of them also conflicted with the religious culture and social context of many urban people who believed in the principles of religious morality. This spirit emerged in the revolutionary fighters and opponents of the Pahlavi regime, who believed that in order to get rid of these indoctrinations and close down these poisonous Pahlavi cultural centers that encourage audiences to follow their worldly desires and illicit pleasures, they must destroy and eliminate them by any means possible. Thus, setting fire to cinemas or breaking the windows and doors and destroying their interiors were among the actions that some revolutionaries took advantage of. The city of Firuzabad in Fars province was one of the cities with cinemas, but the religious and revolutionary youth there could no longer tolerate its activities under the name of Cinema Kourosh, so they tried to burn it down. Of course, they were careful not to do this in any way when there were spectators, lest someone be killed or injured and the Pahlavi government use it as a weapon against the revolutionaries and opponents. Following the massacre of the people of Tehran in the incident of September 8 of 1978, the confrontation between the revolutionaries and the government and its agents became public and obvious. Marches and demonstrations took place in various cities, and not only did the people not consider and be careful in expressing their public and open opposition to the government, as in the past, but the situation had become such that they were less afraid of arrest and detention and openly opposed it at every opportunity. According to SAVAK reports on the situation in the city of Firuzabad, the people there, like in other cities, gradually began to move and began to protest and hold public marches. In a report on the situation in the cities of Fars Province on September 4, such as Lar, Kazerun, Abadeh, and Jahrom, SAVAK wrote: “Peaceful demonstrations have taken place in other cities, including Neyriz, Darab, and Firuzabad.”[1] Three days later, “with the exception of the city of Kazerun, where the shops in the bazaar and the streets of the city have been closed since the morning of September 7 of 1978, shops in Shiraz and other cities of Fars Province [such as Firuzabad] were open and life was normal.”[2] On August 30, it was reported that, apart from the cities of Shiraz, Kazerun, Jahrom, and Lar, “in other cities of Fars Province, most shops are open and the situation is normal.”[3] On September 10, except for Jahrom, “most shops were open,”[4] on September 12, “shops were open and normal conditions were restored,”[5] and on September 17, the situation was the same.[6]

The calm situation and the absence of widespread protests in the city of Firuzabad continued until they protested on October 1^st. “At 8 p.m. on October 1^st of 1978, approximately 600 people from the religious community marched on one of the streets of Firuzabad, Fars Province, chanting slogans in support of Ruhollah Khomeini. Several demonstrators broke several glasses from the windows of a liquor store in the city, which were dispersed by the intervention of law enforcement officers.[7] The Firuzabad police department reported that on October 6, “a number of boys’ high schools were tense due to the absence of teachers in class, and in a number of schools where the head of education and the deputy head of the department gave speeches, they were more tense than before, and even chanted slogans in favor of (Ayatollah) Khomeini when students left high schools and elementary schools, but the police officers and the gendarmerie auxiliary force dispersed the students and no untoward incident occurred.”[8] Three days later, the military governorate described the youth protest in the city as follows: “At 9:30 a.m., a number of young people in Firuzabad were chanting slogans in favor of (Ayatollah) Khomeini on the main street of that city, and upon seeing officers throwing stones at the police car, The incident resulted in one of the car’s headlights being broken, and the officers dispersed the demonstrators and arrested two of the instigators.”[9] Again, the Fars provincial police reported: “At 7:15 p.m. on October 14 of 1978, a number of students from Firuzabad city, whose instigator was said to be Abdul Aziz Shaban, the literature secretary, attempted to break several glass cups from Saderat and Melli banks and a signboard from the Rastakhiz party in that city.”[10] Two days later, on October 16, at night, Hadi Ahmadi, son of Ismail, and Nader Ahmadi, son of Hadi, the head of the Sepah Bank [who were probably father and son], set fire to the car of Sergeant Major Nasrallah Nakhaei, the Firuzabad police officer, in front of his house at night, and as a result, they were arrested.[11] The burning of police and military officers’ cars also occurred in other cities in Fars province, such as Jahrom, Kazerun, and Fasa.[12]

The incident of setting fire to the Kourosh Cinema in Firuzabad by a few students was one of the events that took place during these days and was effective in accelerating the rapid movements against the Pahlavi regime, to the extent that the residents dared to attack the SAVAK, police and governorship buildings in Firuzabad in February 1979 and occupy those places before the victory of the revolution in Tehran.

There are three accounts available about how the Kourosh Cinema in Firuzabad was set on fire: one is related to a short and concise report by the Fars Police and a supplementary report by SAVAK on the incident. The second account is related to a short news item published in the Kayhan newspaper, and the third is the memory of four residents, one of whom was himself one of the people who set fire to the cinema. Therefore, it is a historically noteworthy event that has been spoken about by both accounts by government agents on the one hand and opponents of the government on the other. fon October 24. Three people were arrested and about three million rials in damage was caused.”[13] In a supplementary report prepared a few days later, SAVAK introduced the perpetrators of the cinema arson as follows: “Saeed Anbari and his older brother, both students at the 6th Bahman High School, Jafar Katiraei, who had been a student in Qom for some time and received his diploma in Firuzabad last September, Javad Amirsalari, son of Abdul Hassan, Aziz Shaban, the literature secretary, Shahpour Rezaei, the owner of a shutter shop, and Noureddine Moghaddisi, a technician at the Firuzabad Agricultural Company, are engaged in activities that appear religious but are communist in nature and are planning to set fire to government institutions. The arson of the Kourosh Cinema was also carried out by them and their accomplices. On the morning of 26/10/1978 at 9:45, the aforementioned individuals were roaming the streets, inciting students and other young people of Firuzabad to demonstrate. At around 12:00 on the same day, they had an unprovoked fight with a police officer who was a guard for the Rastakhiz Party. The two sides of the fight were separated after several people intervened. The main source of this demonstration is Manouchehr Heydari, who was repeatedly seen with Masih Islah, the Revolutionary Guard, who was wounded by a bullet during a demonstration on 28/10/1978, and the aforementioned individuals are also Heydari’s agents.”[14] Regarding the SAVAK supplementary report, it should be added that the contradiction in the thoughts and motivations of the perpetrators of the cinema arson is evident in the way that it first calls Katiraei a student of Qom and then considers his activities to be apparently religious but completely communist. A term that was widely used during the Pahlavi era to attack and destroy religious activists, to the extent that the antonymous term “Islamic Marxists” was coined and promoted for them, and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi himself used it to destroy his opponents. The second narrative is a short piece of news that a Kayhan newspaper reporter from Firuzabad reported, and Kayhan newspaper published it the day after the incident: “The Kourosh Cinema in Firuzabad, Fars, which has been closed since April, was set on fire last night with gasoline, and the arsonists themselves were caught in the fire and sustained injuries.”[15] It is worth noting that Kayhan newspaper was among the newspapers that covered news of protests, opposition, strikes, and revolutionary events in general, and was considered the most widely circulated newspaper; although it was considered a government-run newspaper. Regarding the importance of this newspaper, it is worth mentioning that after Imam Khomeini was arrested on June 5, 1963 and his photo was published, the government announced a ban on publishing his photo in the press until 15 years later, Kayhan newspaper broke the ban on publishing Imam Khomeini's photo and became the first publication to publish his photo in a newspaper on August 29 of 1978. A month later, Etelaat newspaper also found the courage to publish the Imam's photo in its pages.

The third narrative is the result of the recollections of four people about how the plan to set fire to the cinema was planned and carried out, and the circumstances of the planner and one of the perpetrators of that event, Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti. The third narrative is based on the memories of the parents and older brother of martyr Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti, and the memories of Qasem Tambahi, one of the perpetrators of the plan and the only survivor of that event. If it were not for this third narrative, we would not have known about the details and names of the perpetrators of the Kourosh Cinema arson in Firuzabad. Thanks to the publication of the book “Agha [sir] Sadeq: A Narrative of the Jihadist Life of Martyr Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti” by Mohammad Reza Hosseini, today we have the third narrative. According to Qasem Tambahi’s recollection, shortly before the plan was carried out, a four-person group was formed, including Qasem Tambahi, Jafar Esmailzadeh, Esmail Katiraei, and Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti, and the nucleus of several operations was established. “One day, Sadeq [Dashti] took us to his house and showed us a photo of the cleric Seyyed and said, ‘This is Imam Khomeini. The one who stands before the Shah and his gang and needs a helper. I am connected to Shiraz through [my older brother] Seyyed Nooruddin and I bring his leaflets and photos to Firuzabad. But I need help to distribute them in Firuzabad and the surrounding cities. Are you up to the task or not? ... The four of us joined hands and promised to help each other. Our meetings were held almost every day after school at Sadeq's house.”[16] Two or three days after the group was formed, leaflets and photos of Imam Khomeini began to be distributed in Firuzabad and other cities in Fars Province like tarpaulins and tar, and other people joined the group. Writing slogans on the doors and walls of Firuzabad was also part of the program. “One night, we wrote slogans on the wall of the SAVAK building: Death to the Shah, Khomeini is our leader, until the blood runs in our veins. The next morning, Jafar and I went to the SAVAK. Jalali, the head of SAVAK in Firuzabad, had forced several officers to erase the slogans and, out of anger, he kept cursing at them and the slogan writers.”[17]

Qasim Abayli further explains the reason for the decision to set fire to the cinema: “Bythe arrival of news indicating the severe repression and killing of people across the country, our blood had boiled, and in one of the meetings, we decided to enter the phase of physical confrontations and eliminate the sinister military and security leaders. We came to the conclusion that we would carry out three plans in order: first, set fire to the Kourosh Cinema, second, assassinate Jalali, and third, assassinate the victim of the Firuzabad police chief. After designing and implementing the first operation, we were to plan how to implement the next operation.”[18] In the same meeting, it was also decided to set fire to the cinema with two twenty-liter cans of gasoline. Of course, he mistakenly states that the date of the plan's execution was midnight on October 4 of 1978, which is incorrect. According to SAVAK documents, the correct date is 10:00 PM on November 2.

Tavanaee describes how the plan was carried out and how they were arrested: "At one o'clock in the morning, we arrived near the cinema. According to the plan, Sadeq hid on the side of the street, a little away from the cinema. Jafar, Katirai, and I went to the cinema ticket counter with two twenty-liter cans full of gasoline and waited for Sadeq's signal with a flashlight. Less than a minute later, the flashlight turned on and off twice and we began the operation. We broke the glass with a rock and entered the cinema lobby. Katirai was at the door, his eyes fixed on Sadeq's possible danger sign. Jafar and I entered with the cans. I was supposed to pour gasoline on the ground floor and Jafar on the stairs and balcony of the cinema. The excitement of the task made my heart beat clearly audible, and no matter how hard I tried to slow down my heartbeat by taking deep breaths, it was of no use. Instead of oxygen, only gasoline vapor entered my lungs, making the situation worse. I was worried and quickly emptied the entire twenty-liter can and returned to the door. When I reached Katirai, I said: I wish we had brought oil instead of gasoline. He asked: Why? As soon as I came to answer him, the blast wave threw us, along with the doors and windows of the cinema lobby, into the middle of the street. When we came to ourselves, we saw Jafar thrown out of the balcony and his entire body burning in the middle of the street. We quickly reached him. He had lost consciousness. After extinguishing the flames, with the help of Katirai, I coaxed Jafar and we fled through the back alleys towards Katirai's father's old house, which was empty. On the way, when Jafar whispered in my ear with a weak moan, "Throw me in the water," I realized that he had come to his senses. A large amount of water had accumulated on one side of the alley from yesterday's rain. We put him to sleep in the water, but he lost consciousness again. We picked him up and set off again. When we got home and turned on the light, we both gasped in horror at the sight of Jafar's face. His entire face and body were burned. He had no hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes. The scene we were seeing was too horrific to hold back our tears. As we applied burn ointment to Jafar's face and body, his skin would peel off with the movement of our fingers. We quickly took him to their house, which was nearby. Although his family understood what was happening, they had no choice but to take him to the hospital. Worried about Jafar's condition and unaware of Sadeq's, we said goodbye to each other. It was decided that Katirai would go to their relatives' house in Shiraz, and I would go to our house and not be exposed to the sun for a few days. The streets were full of security forces, arresting everyone they saw. I barely made it home. My family looked at my smoke-stained head and face and blackened clothes with sadness and surprise; I tried to explain to them how we had brought such a disaster upon ourselves, but they would not believe me at all. I had to take them to the roof and show them the cinema engulfed in flames. Then I went to my room in sorrow and prayed for Jafar and Sadeq while crying. At around five in the morning, the SAVAK forces burst into the house. They were looking for me with sadness and anger. When my parents were forced to show me, their leader said, "Lying to a security officer is a serious crime. Tell me, where is Qasem Tavanaee?" My father replied, "I am not joking with you, nor did I have a chance to hide this child in the situation you have brought into the house. That is Qasem." [The officer said] So these traitors are using children! Why are you allowing your child to become a plaything for these traitors? Without waiting for my father's answer, he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the car. One of the officers handcuffed me and blindfolded me with a black cloth. When they opened my eyes at the detention center, I saw Jalali [the head of SAVAK in Firuzabad] sitting across from me. He quickly began the interrogation and tried to get the name of Hajjat ​​Agha Adalat out of my mouth (Hujjat al-Islam Adalat, the Imam of the Prophet's Mosque in Firuzabad and one of the city's revolutionary fighters during the revolution). I knew this cleric from afar and he had no connection to our operation. It was only with God's help that Jalali's punches and kicks could not force me to confess falsely against Hajjat ​​Agha. When they could not do anything, they kept me there for a day and night and the next day they sent me blindfolded to the police prison. When I was thrown into the police prison cell, a person was praying in the corner of the cell. After my eyes got used to the weak light there, I saw that it was Sadeq. I was very upset that they had arrested him too. It was clear from his head and face that he had not been spared the punches and kicks of those unjust people. When he finished his prayer greeting and saw me, he burst into tears. I said, "Why are you crying? You are our leader, you idiot. Without further ado, he asked: "Katirai or Jafar?" I said: "What do you mean?" He said: "Don't get carried away, I know everything. Just tell me, did Katirai leave us forever or Jafar?" After a short pause, I couldn't hold back my tears. I said angrily: "Did Jafar finish?" I saw his parents take him to the hospital. He said: "He finished at the hospital." I asked: "How do you know?" He said: "After the cinema explosion, I came out of hiding to help you; but I hadn't run a few steps when two officers stopped me and arrested me. I tried to attract the attention of the other officers who were coming from the end of the street with a lot of noise and struggle so that you could escape. They took me straight to the police station from there. A few minutes later, I saw that they had also brought some of the children from the mosque. I was relieved that they hadn't been able to catch you and that they had arrested these children, whom they had apparently suspected before; But a few minutes later, as the victim, the police chief, was sitting across from us, cursing and rambling, one of his men came and announced: "Unfortunately, we were unable to catch the rest. They only took one of them, who was burned, to the hospital; but they couldn't keep him alive and that's it. The two of us cried over Jafar's martyrdom and recited Fatiha and prayers for the peace of his soul."[19]

Mrs. Soghari Hassanpour, the mother of Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti, is the second to recount this incident. Like many mothers in Firuzabad, she was worried about raising her teenage son, lest he get caught up in the Kourosh Cinema's arrival in the city, and she spoke of Sadeq's condition after the plan was carried out: "When it was past midnight and there was no news of Sadeq, my impatience reached its peak. After all, it was unprecedented for him to be out of the house at that time without my knowledge... It was almost two in the morning when they finally knocked on the door. ... When I opened the door, my heart sank. Seeing the car and the police officer at that moment was like firewood on the fire in my heart. I tried my best to control myself and said: Hello. Come here. The officer who had gotten out of the car said: Are you Sadeq Dashti's mother? When he mentioned Sadeq's name, my voice trembled a little against my will. [I said:] Did something happen to him? As he was getting into the car, he said: No. I just wanted to let you know that he will be our guest for a few days. When I wanted to ask what happened, the driver sped up and they left. I quickly changed my clothes and drove myself to the police station... I calmed down a bit when I entered. Sadeq and a few of his friends were sitting there safe and sound, and there were a few cups of tea in front of them. The police officer was offering them tea with a mocking expression, and they, with their adolescent pride, did not give him any space. When he saw me, he stood up with the same pride and said: Why did you come? Even if they were going to kill me, you shouldn't have come here. The police officer turned to me while pressing his hand on Sadeq's shoulder to stop him from standing and said: Why didn't his father come? [I said:] His father is not from Firuzabad. What did Sadeq do that you brought him here? [The officer said:] Tell him to come. When he comes, it will be clear. [I said:] I won't leave here until you tell me what he did. [The officer] raised his voice and said: “Vandalism, disrupting the security of the city. It’s a serious crime. Don’t ask any more questions and get out of here.” Immediately after the police officer, Sadeq said: “Go home, mother of your life. Don’t worry about me at all. I’m fine, fine.”[20]

Qasem Ali Dashti, Sadeq Dashti’s father, who was an employee of the Ministry of Interior and served in the city of Qir near Firuzabad, went to Mr. Lolachi, the governor of Firuzabad, after failing to get his son released by contacting the police, but he said: “I didn’t think you were communist saboteurs.”[21] Thus, he too waited in despair for time to pass so that perhaps his son would be released.

The burning of the cinema caused people to become excited and to demonstrate in the city for three consecutive days, on the 26^th, 27^th, and 28^th of October, in support of the work of the four-person group and for their release. This caused the police to announce that the defendants would be tried. According to SAVAK documents, on October 24, “a group of students in Firuzabad, Fars Province, held street demonstrations. The demonstrators were dispersed by law enforcement officers after breaking several windows of schools and the Radio and Television Learning Center.”[22] Following the residents’ demonstrations on November 1^st, government officers opened fire. As a result, one of the demonstrators was martyred. This increased the intensity of the protests and demonstrations, so much so that on November 11, on the pretext of the seventh day of his martyrdom, a demonstration was held with a crowd of about two thousand people.[23] Qasem Ali mentions the name of that martyr as the first martyr of Firuzabad in the revolution, Mohammad Ali Rezaei.[24]

Mir Ghasem Ali's recollections of the courtroom discussions that led to the release of the detainees are as follows: "When I arrived at the courtroom, Sadeq and one of his friends were sitting and explaining the incident to the judge. Sadeq said: We were not provoked by any source, nor did anyone give us a plan. We ourselves prepared gasoline and set the cinema on fire. Our plan was to pour gasoline first, and when we came out, we would light a match, and then escape; but I don't know what happened, when Jafar was still inside, the cinema exploded and burned itself. The presiding judge asked Sadeq how many days were you in prison. [He said:] Three days and two nights, including torture. Jalali was punching and kicking me and demanding a confession from me about who told us to set the cinema on fire. I looked over his head and saw that they had hung a picture of the Shah on the wall. I said, 'This is your leader, and our leader is Imam Khomeini. I set the cinema on fire because of his movement. No one ordered me to do so.' Even if you kill me, that’s what I’m saying. Finally, the presiding judge ordered the release of Sadeq and his friend. I left the courtroom with joy and pride and went home. We went to the governor’s office with his mother and brothers. They were going to bring Sadeq and Qasem there. As soon as the people saw us, they opened the way for us to go in front of the crowd. When the police car arrived, the people’s chants of Allahu Akbar rose. His mother and I had not yet had enough of kissing him when the people put the two teenagers on their shoulders like two heroes and marched triumphantly through the streets of Firuzabad. After the cinema was burned, the marches continued every day, and now Firuzabad had joined the raging flood of the Iranian nation.”[25]

Seydan Noureddin Dashti, the eldest son of the family, who was himself considered a revolutionary, recalled his brother’s release and the impact of their action: “I was with my cousin Zia [in Shiraz] when I heard the good news of Sadeq’s release and the start of the Firuzabad demonstrations. We didn't think they would be released so soon. We were very happy. I told Zia: I'm going to Firuzabad and I'll bring Sadeq to Shiraz for a few days; it's safer for him to stay here with us. I'm afraid they'll do something to the kids again... Usually, I didn't stay in the student dormitory on weekends, but I went to my aunt's house and spent most of my time with Zia. She was busy distributing leaflets and speech tapes, as well as participating in demonstrations, and my aunt's house had become a safe place for us to hang out. Although Sadeq agreed to come to Shiraz, he didn't stay more than a few days. He said he was falling behind in his studies and returned to Firuzabad. He had a strange personality; he cared so much about his studies and school that I really didn't understand how he found the time to gather his friends and distribute all these leaflets and tapes and write slogans all over the city. Then they hatched a plan to set fire to the cinema and carried it out, it was hard to believe; but it was true anyway... A city like Firuzabad, which had been silent until the revolutionary movement of Sadeq and his friends, joined the wave of the revolution with incredible speed.”[26]

Of that group of four, only Mr. Qasem Tavanaee is alive today. There is no information about Jafar Esmailzadeh, who was martyred in the same incident and as a result of severe burns. Sadeq Katiraei is introduced in the second volume of the book Culture of Martyrs: Fars Province as Ismail Katiraei: “He was born on May 8 of 1962 in Firuzabad city. His father was Abolqasem, a farmer, and his mother was Rabab (died in 1978). He studied culture and literature until the end of high school and received a diploma. He served as a Guardsman at the front. On August 6 of 1963, he was martyred as an RPG woman in Darkhoin by being hit by a mortar shell. His grave is located in Behesht-e-Zahra [graveyard], his birthplace. He was also called Mohammad Sadeq.”[27] More information is available about Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti. In addition to mentioning his life in the second volume of the book Farhang A’lam Shuhada [The culture of announcing the martyrs]: Fars Province, the book Agha Sadeq: A Narrative of the Life of the Jihadist Martyr Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Dashti, a collection of his life and life based on the memories of his family, friends, and fellow martyrs, was published in 2010. Accordingly, he was born on August 6 of 1963, coinciding with the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Imam Jafar Sadiq (PBUH), in the village of Dastja Fasa, and was named Mohammad Sadeq on this occasion. He received a diploma in humanities in June 1981. When Jihad Construction was formed in 1979, he joined Jihad Construction with his older brother. In Murch 1981, he went to the headquarters of the Jihad Construction of Fars Province in Abadan and began serving as a jihadist. During his time at the front, he held numerous responsibilities in the Fars Jihad located in Abadan, including: being responsible for the fortifications of the Fars Jihad Construction Combat Engineering Battalion in 1982; managing the combat engineering of the war in the western and northwestern regions of the country in 1983; deputy chief of staff of the Fars Jihad Combat Engineering Battalion from 1984; managing the mast construction workshop in 1984 and 1985. He was finally martyred on the morning of October 13, 1985, when he was hit in the chest by a mortar shell in Arvandkenar and was buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery of Firuzabad.

 
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