Morteza Tavakoli Narrates Student Activities
Translated by: M.B. Khoshnevisan
2025-5-5
I am from Isfahan, born in 1336 (1957). I entered Mashhad University with a bag of fiery feelings and a desire for rights and freedom. Less than three months into the academic year, I was arrested in Azar 1355 (November 1976), or perhaps in 1354 (1975). I was detained for about 35 days. The reason for my arrest was that we gathered like-minded students in the Faculty of Literature on 16th of Azar (December 7) and chanted slogans against the regime. From slogans like "Death to the Shah" and "Hail to Khomeini," to "Yankee Go Home," where students kicked the doors of classrooms and told American professors to leave our city and country, saying, "Americans, leave our home." Perhaps the beauty of our work was that we served as a link between the revolutionary movements of Isfahan and Mashhad. We were not simple students who only studied our lessons and held brief protests at school or university.
We met Mr. Forudi through a group of friends. He mentioned that he had heard about a planned women's demonstration. The demonstration was scheduled to start at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, starting from the Ab[water] Square and going through Khosravi No Street and the carpet dealers' market. Mr. Forudi suggested that we should also attend. He acted as if he had stumbled upon this information by chance, even though it was not a coincidence. He encouraged us to participate, whether to support the women, expose the army's brutality, or document the event for later. After the demonstration, we took photos of the march and distributed them to friends, family, university students, and bazaris, etc. in Isfahan.
We were part of the group that invited Ayatollah Khamenei to Mashhad after the revolution's victory to speak at the university. We also invited Martyr Chamran. Every Tuesday, we would attend Mr. Khamenei's lectures. I am one of the remaining political prisoners in Iran. Following the revolution's success on 22nd of Bahman (February 11), I was released from prison on 23rd of Bahman (February 12).
Sources: Zowghi, Somayyeh, Women's Liberation Day: An Oral History of the 17th of Dey (January 7) Uprising of the Women of Mashhad, Tehran, Rah-e Yar, 1398 (2019), pp. 116-117.
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Tabas Fog
Ebham-e Tabas: Ramzgoshayi az ja’beh siah-e tahajom nezami Amrika (Tabas Fog: Decoding the Black Box of the U.S. Military Invasion) is the title of a recently published book by Shadab Asgari. After the Islamic Revolution, on November 4, 1979, students seized the US embassy in Tehran and a number of US diplomats were imprisoned. The US army carried out “Tabas Operation” or “Eagle’s Claw” in Iran on April 24, 1980, ostensibly to free these diplomats, but it failed.An Excerpt from the Memoirs of General Mohammad Jafar Asadi
As Operation Fath-ol-Mobin came to an end, the commanders gathered at the “Montazeran-e Shahadat” Base, thrilled by a huge and, to some extent, astonishing victory achieved in such a short time. They were already bracing themselves for the next battle. It is no exaggeration to say that this operation solidified an unprecedented friendship between the Army and IRGC commanders.A Selection from the Memoirs of Haj Hossein Yekta
The scorching cold breeze of the midnight made its way under my wet clothes and I shivered. The artillery fire did not stop. Ali Donyadideh and Hassan Moghimi were in front. The rest were behind us. So ruthlessly that it was as if we were on our own soil. Before we had even settled in at the three-way intersection of the Faw-Basra-Umm al-Qasr road, an Iraqi jeep appeared in front of us.Boycotting within prison
Here I remember something that breaks the continuity, and I have to say it because I may forget it later. In Evin Prison, due to the special position that we and our brothers held and our belief in following the line of Marja’eiyat [sources of emulation] and the Imam, we had many differences with the Mujahedin.
