Memoirs from the days of Abadan siege and Fadaiyan-e Islam
Faezeh Sasanikhah
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan
2018-04-17
Note: Najmeh Jamarani is one of the active young girls during the eight-year sacred defense who along with other social and cultural activities has been engaged with relief working in the war zones and Tehran’s hospitals since the first year of the Iraqi impose war against Iran till the ending years. Her presence during the Abadan siege and familiarity with the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam (Devotees of Islam) prompted the correspondent of Iranian Oral History to go and have an interview with her about her memoirs of those years.
*When did you decide to leave Tehran for Abadan for relief working?
*Several months had been passed since the start of the war when I and my friend Tahmineh – with whom I became familiar in Jihad Sazandegi (holy war of construction) Organization – decided to go to Abadan for relief working and getting reports.
*Did your parent agree with you by going to a city under siege?
*No. they were in the line of revolution and service to it and we had no problem with each other. My brother was also in the war front.
*Why did you choose Abadan among the entire war zones?
*Abadan was under siege and we had heard that it was in shortage of food stuff, relief workers and nurses. Since we knew both relief working and how to work with guns, decided to go there.
*Could you go to Abadan easily given it was under siege?
*No. we were not agreed to go there by any means. They said, “The city is under siege. Where do you want to go?” Finally, we could manage to arrange the program of going through Tahmineh’s brother. We could get our decree from the army early in winter 1359 (April 1980) in order to be able to fly to Mahshahr by C-130 plane. We were given by the army a large number of advertising banners on which hadiths and Imam Khomeini’s sentences had been written to take with ourselves. There we went to a village called Choobadeh by a helicopter and from there moved toward the Oil Company Hospital in Abadan by an army vehicle.
*How was the situation in Abadan?
*The city was very quiet. There few popular forces. In front of some of the houses had been fortified. Military vehicles were travelling inside the city and looked at me and Tahmineh in surprise. Tahmineh took photos from the scenes she saw. No sound was heard except the sound of explosions and shooting. We reached the hospital and got off. The Iraqis had targeted the hospital and the doctor and the wounded people in the operation room had been martyred. The situation was messy. We were told that no forces were accepted in such a situation for the moment. There was a man there who said, “Come with me, I’ll take you to Taleqani Hospital.” After arriving in the hospital, we went to meet Dr. Shah Hossaini, the hospital’s head. He asked us about the record of our job and we explained about the record of our activities in the Red Crescent trains, adding that we knew everything from stitching to dressing up and giving medicines to patients. We went to the southern areas by the Red Crescent trains in the first months of the war. We had gone and came back by those trains so much that we were considered permanent forces. The doctor got very glad and asked, “Are you ready to start working in the emergency ward?” We said it made no difference for us and we worked wherever needed.
*How was the situation of the hospital?
*A number of popular forces from Abadan and Khorramshahr were working there. They had come due to their young passion and did not know much. The hospital was face with shortage of blood. I and Tahmineh were going to the deployed stations in the city and got blood from the volunteer people. The locals had little information about blood donation and were hardly prepared to do so, and said, “I myself have no blood, how can I donate?!”
*Was the hospital’s situation bearable for you?
*The situation was a little hard. Most of the foods were made with chilly spices. Chilly spices were harmful for the wounded who were bleeding because pepper dilutes blood and increases bleeding. We have two hours off leave per day. We asked a man named Mohammad Reza Hamehvand who was from Khorramshahr and a nice boy and was going and coming to the hospital to take us to Minoo Island in order to be able to conduct interviews with the combatants deployed there. There, we found out that lots of dates had been picked up and put in the canoes but their owners had not been able to sell them for war conditions. We asked, “Can these dates be used?" They answered, "Yes. If they are not sold, they will be either spoiled or destroyed by mortars.” Whenever we went there, we took dates for the wounded as much as we could. At that time, the morale was different. Nobody said my duty was clear. Everyone could do whatever he or she could.
*Except foreign enemy which were fighting against us officially and publically, the fifth column were active inside the country secretly. Some of them had infiltrated in the hospitals and obstructed. Had you seen such people during your service in Taleqani Hospital.?
*Yes. A woman who was in charge of one of the hospital’s wards did not have good hijab. She came to our ward without any Hijab and treated badly with the wounded. Once a wounded person was brought and had a severe bleeding. We had to put a pillow under his feet but there was no pillow. Whatever we said that we needed pillow, she said, “We don’t have!” I said, “Several days ago, I asked for a pillow and you had, but would it not be now?” I told Dr. Shah Hossaini, “We suspect this woman! Watch her and appoint a guard for her!" A few days later, a guard was appointed for her. Eventually, our guess came true and she was arrested. It was discovered that she was in connection with anti-revolutionary groups. You may not believe but she had stored some one hundred to one hundred and fifty blankets abd pillows in the room she was holding and did not deliver them! Later investigation showed that they were four sisters who had relations with American engineers before the victory of the revolution! One of such personnel who had sent her husband and children to Mahshahr had the same problem. Once she told me and Tahmineh, "I am going home. Do you come with me?" We said, "Yes", and went with her. She took us by a house, knocked the door and went inside and came back a few minutes later. Her behavior was not normal. She was carrying something like a radio which was not a radio. We informed the hospital's head. Later, we found out that she was cooperating with the enemy and gave the information to them, and that day, she had taken us with herself as a cover for her work. At that time, we suspected many people. In one of the trips to Abadan, a young girl started following us in Mahshahr. Wherever we went, she followed us. She was affiliated with a political group. She also came to the hospital with us but did not relief working. We informed the hospital's head that this woman was not with us and did not know her. She disappeared a few days later!
*Do you have memoirs for the wounded or martyrs of Taleqani Hospital?
*Yes, lots of memoirs. One day, an army officer was brought to the hospital while a number of soldiers accompanied him. He had put his arm around the neck of two soldier, coming while hopping. His leg had been severely hurt but he did not yell at all. When he was put on the bed, I asked, "How are you?" He said, "Make me unconscious before I show any weakness." His forces were very restless and said he was like our father. When he was operated and regained consciousness, I went to him and asked, "Why didn't you groan with that much pain?" He replied, "A number of forces are under my command and their morale should not be weakened." The wounded people were kept in Taleqani Hospital for one or two days and then sent to other cities. He did not accept to be sent, and said, "Do not send me to Tehran, I want to stay her and serve."
*Were the wounded and martyrs just among military forces?
*No. I remember that once a young woman was brought to the hospital who had lost her head and been martyred. She was some 17 years old and an Arab-speaking. She had three one-year, two-year and three-year children. It was said that the members of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had gone many times to the palm grove to satisfy her husband to come inside the city and live in a safer place, but he had not agreed. I and Tahmineh tried a lot to deliver the children and take them to a safe place but their fathers did not allow. Another time, a middle-aged man who had been martyred was brought to the hospital. He was some forty-two or forty-three years old. Most of his body had been destroyed. He was the worker of municipality. His salary was in his pocket. He had received his salary to send it to his family in Mahshahr.
*How long did you cooperate with Taleqani Hospital?
*We were there for some three months. Sometimes, around the hospital were hit two or three times in a day.
*Did you come back to Tehran?
*No. we joined the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam.
*How did you become familiar with the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam?
*We got familiar with the group through Mr. Hamehvand. We went to the headquarters of Fada’iyan-e Islam and said we liked to go to the frontline. We told them we knew relief working and want to make films and take photos. I and Tahmineh were the students in the fields of cinema. The universities had been shut down after the revolution for cultural revolution.
*Did you meet their commanders, Mujtaba Hashemi?
*Yes, the same night which we had been informed from Tehran that (Abolhasan) Banisadr (the then president) had deliver a tough speech in Tehran University and Banisadr's supporters had been clashed there with the supporters of martyr (Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Hossaini) Beheshti. Upon hearing the news, everybody said something. Some said that we had to lay down our arms and come back to Tehran in order to first kick him out and then come back again and fight against the Iraqis. I remember that martyr Seyed Mujtaba Hashemi and martyr Ali Asghar Sholehvar spoke and invited all to calm. Martyr Hashemi said, "If we leave here, the Iraqis will come and seize Tehran little by little. We should be self-restraint and leave Tehran to revolutionary forces there."
*In which front had the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam been deployed?
*Zulfaqari.
*Why did you leave working in the hospital which was safer and went to Zulkfaqari front?
*There were enough forces in the hospital. The relief workers had learnt how to work gradually. We liked to be near to the frontline that if an operation was carried out, we could be there. In addition to relief working, Tahmineh was also a reporter and wanted to make better reports. We had already gone to Kout Sheikh. Kout Sheikh was part of Khorramshahr which had not been fallen to the Iraqis. We had seen that our forces had pierced the houses to travel easier in the places where it was within the rifle range of Iraqis. We tried a lot and finally Mr. Hamehvand came and make us familiar with the Fada’iyan-e Islam. Their headquarters was in Persian Hotel. Foods were made there and sent for the group. The forces who had come from were recognized and divided there. When our work finished in the hospital, we moved toward Zulfaqari by a car. The driver took us in a place where we were being shot. We had to stop. Tw Azeri-speaking brothers had sheltered under the pipes of the Oil Company. They said, "Get off fast!" we got off. They pushed the car and parked in a corner. They asked us, "What are you doing here?" we said, "We are going to Zulfaqari!" They said, "You have come the wrong way! Raise your head, you see that you are within the rifle range of the enemy directly. They are less than two hundred meters away with us!"
*What did you do in Zulfaqari?
*Relief working, reporting, photography and even we dug trenches along with the men and guarded at nights. Tahmineh took many photos and made films.
*For what daily did Tahmineh Ardekani take these photos?
"I don't remember, but his brother worked in Jihad Sazandegi and the photos were mostly displayed in different exhibitions through the Jihad.
*Were only you two ladies there?
Yes. But sometimes a young girl from Khorramshahr named Darya came there who later married a member of Fada’iyan-e Islam.
*Where did you live in Zulfaqari?
*They were all in the bastions. I and Tahmineh lived in a bastion. There, we prayed and rested. Sometimes when the situation was calm and there was no shooting, martyr Mujtaba Hashemi stood as a prayer leader and we followed him.
*How was he as a commander?
* He was very tidy. He was wearing a panther-designed dress and a crocheted hat. He had a great impressiveness. He had good relations with his forces and at the same time, everybody was in awe of him. He did not leave the war zone except emergency times. If he went to the headquarters of the Fada’iyan-e Islam one night, he came back very soon. He called me and Tahmineh as sister.
*How was the situation there?
*Some people think the facilities were provided in the fronts and there was no problem! The use of ammunition was rationing in the frontline. We were faced with shortage of weapons. Sometimes, we were given just three or four RPG bullets if the enemy shot in fifty-meter distance. Banisadr did not give necessary supplies. When the enemy’s fire was heavy, it was impossible to bring food. We had to make ourselves full with a little biscuit. This was nothing for those whose job was heavy and had to dig trenches. It happened a lot that the food stuff was packed by the people as gifts. Once, no food was delivered for five days. After five days, a little frozen food was brought. Every two persons had to use one spoon, but my food and Tahmineh’s were more. We asked the reason. They said that some of the brothers had given up their share and they said, “Take our food for the sisters. They are less tolerant than us.” We had also shortage of drinking water. Once, I and Tahmineh were thirsty. We drank water from a flask and found out it did not taste water. We asked the reason from the brothers. They said, “This is not water! This is the oil of lanterns!” The smell of oil had disappeared as a result of hot weather. The brothers rushed around there and found a little lemon juice and gave it to us so that the effect of the oil was vanished. We had to be armed there, so that if we were attacked, we could defend ourselves. I had somewhat learned to work with an air rifle before the revolution.
*What did you do for cleaning?
*A big pit had been dug for toilet that one would be afraid of falling into it. A few pieces of iron had been used for covering around it. It had no ceiling and we had to use ewer. We were afraid of being hit by mortar shells when we went to the WC. We went to the city once a week for bathing. There was a public bath in the city near Rex Cinema. It was always crowded. Everyone had little time for washing.
*Did Banisadr come to Abadan during the time you were there?
*One day, we were asked to tidy ourselves and clean the trenches because Banisadr wanted to visit the area. Some forces became upset, and said, “How can we tidy ourselves. We had just these clothes. We have not come here for wedding ceremony. Here is the war front.” Finally, after a few hours, we were ordered to be free and they said that Banisadr did not come today and had said that he did not have time today and would come at a later date which that day never arrived!
*How long did you cooperate with the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam?
*We were with them for three two-month periods. The first time we went to Tehran to visit our family, Seyed Mujtaba Hashemi had given us a letter with which we could come back again to Abadan. We announced in Tehran that we needed blankets, sheets and other items for the front. We collected and sent necessary items by three or four trucks. A man from our neighborhood went to deliver the items. After returning, he had said the people of the neighborhood that you men have sat here and these young girls have gone to fight! The place where they have gone is very dangerous. Do you believe that the daughter of Mr. Jamarani has gone there!
* Who do you remember from the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam other than martyr Seyed Mujtaba Hashemi?
*There was a Seyed who was martyred in March 1981. He told us we were five children and after my father died, my mother grew us up through working in houses. It was six months that I was working when the war began. I got permission from my mother and came to the front, but I promised her to make a good life after the war, but my mother said, "I continue working just the same way that I've been working so far and provide living expenses." He was ideologically very rich despite financial poverty. One day, the enemy shot and martyred him and four other guys. He was commemorated in the bastion of Seyed Mujtaba Hashemi at night. They mourned and cried for them. The cry was so loud that I and Tahmineh thought that except us, there were other ladies too. When we lit the lights, we saw no one was there except us. Also another time, we had some wounded but there was no ambulance. They were taken by a pickup. I and Tahmineh bandaged the wounds of the injured. The name of the brother who was taking the wounded to the hospital was Nasrollahi. He told us the same day that he had betrothed his cousin and was waiting for the war's state to become know and then we would get married. When he delivered the wounded to the hospital, had gone somewhere else to do what he could but his car was targeted and he was martyred. I never forget the face of the members of the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam. These combatants had no hat to wear. Many of them wore soiled clothes. Some of them had only one dress. They washed it at night, spread and wore again. Some say that the members of Fada’iyan-e Islam were poor and illiterate. But this was not correct. Martyr Ali Asghar Sholehvar was a PhD student from America. He was a clever, taciturn and hardworking boy. He was injured in Abadan's Zulfaqari and transferred to Mahshahr Hospital. I and Tahmineh were supposed to go to Tehran. Before leaving, we visited him. He gave the phone number of his home and said, "Call my family and say I am fine!" when I called his home in Tehran, I heard the sound of the holy Quran. I said that we have come from the front!" The one who was holding the earphone said, "Yes, we were informed today that he has been martyred!"
*Until what year did you cooperate with the group of Fada’iyan-e Islam?
*Until October 1981. When we came back to Tehran for the last time, our forces provided the grounds for breaking Abadan siege. They had dug a tunnel and were moving toward the Iraqis for reconnaissance. They worked nightly and quietly for six months in order to break the siege. A group went into the tunnel and worked and when they got tired, returned and the next group went. They did so silently because Iraqi cars patrolled. If we pulled our head out of the trenches, we saw the Iraqis with naked eye. I and Tahmineh had married. We came back to Tehran a few days before the breaking of Abadan siege.
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