The 310th Night of Memory – 3

Syria narration

Maryam Rajabi
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2020-3-3

According to the website of Iranian Oral History, the 310^th program of the Sacred Defense Night of Memory was held in Sooreh Hall of the Art Center on Thursday 23^rd of January 2020. In this program, Hojjatol Eslam Ali Shirazi, Morteza Sarhangi and Majid Yusef Zadeh recounted their memoirs about Haj Qassem Soleimani and defense in Syria.

The third narrator of the show, Majid Yusef Zadeh said, "I was fond of travelling to Syria for two years. I visited many Sardars (generals) and followed up. I thought that having a Syrian wife was a strong point for me but vice versa, our weak point and problem for going to Syria was exactly the same. I talked to one of the generals, asking him what I could do. He asked me to go there, find the friends and accompany them. I responded, "Where can I go?" Which house should I knock? Syria is not a small place. Show me a solution." Accidentally, he was given a mission and left for Syria. Finally, he showed me the headquarters and place. I went to Syria lots of times during the war because of my relativity. My family's place of residence was four kilometers away from Daesh headquarters. When Lebanese Hezbollah started moving into the city of Qusayr and fighting intensely for two months there, we were in close contact with them. We went to Syria and Damascus through Lebanon by land and found a hotel near the holy shrine of Hazrat Zeinab (SA). There was no vacancy. All of the hotels and inns had been settled mainly by Hezbollah combatants, who had come with their family and settled there and were no longer a place for guests. We could find a place with much difficulty and settled. It was the time of Maghrib and Esha (evening and night) prayer. I said I go to the shrine, say my prayer and come back. When the prayer was over, I saw Haj Qassem Soleimani sitting with a very stylish diplomatic suit. He had a special grandeur. Sardar Haj Mohammad Jafari popularly known as Abu Ahmad was the commander of Syria's corps. Haj Qassem was praying. I said hello to Abu Ahmed. He answered me and said, "What do you want to say?" I said, I want to take your time for two minutes. I went on to say whether you remember that there was a little boy during the war who wanted to go to the front and as soon as he got on the bus, they made him to get off and he was crying? He said yes. I said: now I am that little boy who have gone to the shrine and cried and now I have come to bring me for the operation. Abu Ahmad laughed and said, "Who are you? What are you doing? I introduced myself and said, "I was in IRGC and the front and gave my information and experiences and that a Sardar wrote a letter for you." "Okay", he said, "Go and come tomorrow to such and such place." I came out and when I faced with Haj Qassem, he had the same usual smile on his lips. I went and hugged the Haji and kissed him. I laughed and said, "Make my recommendation to Abu Ahmad, Haj Qassem!" They left and I went to Abu Hossein who was the commander of the headquarters and said, "Do you know me, Haji?" He said no. I said, "You were the battalion commander in Operation Karbala 5 and I was a watchman. We sat on a boat and went and targeted the pentagon." I said, "Do you remember?" He said no. I went on to say that I visited you four or five years ago in a ceremony commemorating the martyrs of Ashura Division including martyr Mehdi Bakeri and you asked me what I was doing? I said I was working in Tehran Municipality. You asked me whether I come to the Security department of the interior Ministry to work with us? And I agreed. You gave me a number to contact with you. I coordinated for several times but no avail. Do you remember? He said no. I said, take this letter and dispatch me. The Haji read the letter and wrote with a red pen under it, "Crazy brother, Yusefzadeh! You have been rewarded till here. May God reward you. Go and coordinate with Abu Ahmad so that you were allowed to come here from Iran. Again, he did not solve my problem, and after years, I could succeed to leave for Syria in 2016 with a spark whose story is special and long. They asked where I was going. I said, "The only person I know is Abu Hossein." I was taken to Abu Hossein. In fact, Hazrat Zeinab Headquarters defended Damascus Province. There two sensitive areas in Damascus which was red line for us. One was the airport where Daesh had advanced within five kilometers away from it, and second a power plant which supplied the electricity of the Damascus Province. Daesh had attacked it several times. Above the power plant, we had day and night vision cameras and controlled the commuting for kilometers farther. They came out of their locations which was 12 kilometers far from us and drove by car until some five kilometers far from us and entered the canal. The cars returned empty and the forces entered the canals. They advanced near us and eventually started fighting and attacking our guys. The operational method of the Daesh was that they opened a way through a suicide operation. If you have watched the video footage of martyr Hojaji, it is clear that the car comes with five explosives and destroys, it rescinds the human brain up to five hundred meters away. This wave of explosion works in such a way that man cannot concentrate. We had planted explosives around the power plant so that they could not enter. The only available path was a railway on which they had put the personnel carrier with five explosives. The guys could destroy it. But they managed to enter the power plant from right. As they approached the plant. The Syrian jetfighters arrives and bombarded them and again forced Daesh to retreat in order not to be able to seize the plant. After a while, we were transferred to Aleppo. An operation was supposed to be carried out in the city. The forces of Hazrat Zainab headquarters were dispatched for the operation. We arrived in Aleppo and found out that the Syrian army artillery which had been stationed in the city's entrance was mostly in the hand of the enemy. Out of four routs, three were in the enemy's hands and there was just one route through which we could enter Aleppo. There was a canal in which Al-Nusra Front had been stationed. The front's forces were very professional in war. They were the same al-Qaedah. One of its commanders was killed in a bombardment. It was said that this man had been fighting for 18 years; namely he had gone to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chechenia, Afghanistan, and Iraq and now, it was five years that he was fighting in Syria for five years. Their military equipment is very robust and ready; it means that they hit the target with three bullets. They worked very carefully. Their fire was this way that they started at noon, carrying out their operations, and seized the area at five in the afternoon and scissoring, closing their backs and capturing everyone. They seized the area of Me'rateh in the entrance of Aleppo though firing mortars. It was in the hand of the Syrian army. They closed their backs and then showed in their films that they had queued the Syrian soldiers, beating them back. Well, we prepared three routes for the operation; the right route was controlled by a brigade whose commander was a Syrian Sunni. It is interesting to say that the names of the battalions of our Sunni brothers were Omar, Abubakr and Khalid Ibn-e Walid. We had also a route of Syrian Shiite forces. They were supposed to attack from the bottom and the third route was controlled by the brothers of Fatemion Brigade of Imam Reza (PBUH) Battalion. Six Iranians were the commanders of Imam Reza Battalion and they were supposed to attack from the middle. The first mortar hit the Syrian Sunni forces. They dropped their guns and escaped and did not carry out any operation. On the other hand, our Syrian Shiite brothers who were supposed to attack from the bottom were not involved in the operation and said if we go there, we will be massacred and the Shiite generation in Syria will be destroyed. The only forces who were involved in the operation were the Imam Reza Battalion and the guys of Fatemion. Six Iranians were the commanders of the battalion of Mehdi Asgari who was from Karaj. Mr. Mohammad Aminian the clergy of the battalion. When he was martyred, he was 21 years and 10 months old. He said, we were defeated in any operation I took part, and if I take part in this operation, we will be defeated too and I will be martyred in this opeartion. The third one, Mr. Asadollah Ebrahimi was from the district of Tehran's Mehrabad Jonoobi. In Kahn Touman operation. He was the only one who stood against the enemy and resisted. With a machine gun and a DShk heavy machine gun, he fired so much that the enemy was forces to retreat and kept the line. Everybody had a nickname there. They were called with nicknames. Asadollah Ebrahimi was known as Abu Jegar. He was very brave. He was the only one who stood against the enemy and kept the Khan Touman line. One of the defects of the cyber space is that when a person was martyred during the war and sacred defense, the prayer leader, the elders and the Martyr Foundation informed the news of martyrdom little by little. But the wife of martyr Mehdi Asgari said I was a student, the professor gave a break for a few moments. During the break, I took out my cellphone and entered the channel of Defenders of Shrine. Suddenly, I saw the photo of my husband who had been martyred a day earlier and surprised a lot. The guys left and started the operation. The enemy started shooting. Al-Nusra Front started saying Allaho Akbar (God is greatest). Mohammad Amin Karimian who was 30 meters away from the enemy called the Fatemion guys and says they are saying Allaho Akbar, and we too say “Labbaik Ya Ali”.  The guys immediately started shooting at the enemy. Mohammad Amin Karimian was shot in chest and attained martyrdom. I was hearing the voice of Mehdi Asgari telling the commander from behind the transceiver that he had been shot three times. Come and help us and return back. But the brigade commander did not know where he was. He sent the guys but they could not find him to at least return him back. His pure body remained and was martyred. When the guys of Isfahan had an operation in Khan Touman, the enemy besieged them. Some thirty forces from Isfahan were surrounded. Martyr Faramarz Rezazadeh the person in charge of the military equipment of Imam Hossain (AS) Division told his friends all of whom were retirees of the division, “Hey guys, we the elders must free some thirty young people surrounded by the enemy. He asked them to bring all bullets of Mini-Katyusha. They deployed the Mini-Katyusha above a hill. The weapon is fired in a curved form. But, they shot at the enemy with direct bullets. The guys took the bullet down the hill and these four old men took them up the hill, putting them inside the Katyusha’s magazine and fired in order to be able to break the siege. When the first 16 bullets were fired, they started firing with Kornet missiles and these four were martyred. The body of martyr Rezazadeh was cut in half but they managed to free the 30 combatants in siege. I had a friend named Hasan Akbari who was from Tehran and was my colleague in municipality. We saw each other there. He planted mines in the area. He had taken part in Tedmor operation and when the enemy attacked, he sat behind the machine gun and started shooting. He was shot by the Kornet missile and martyred. He had a daughter. When we were in Syria, he said, “This Thursday night is the ceremony of my daughter’s marriage.” We offered him to go to Iran by plane and take part in the ceremony. Your daughter wishes her father to be in the ceremony and then come back. He said I am scared to go and they do not allow me to come back and I do not succeed to be martyred. Martyr Mehdi Nazari was from Andimeshk. He had been injured severely in the stomach. We could not return him back. The enemy was advancing and we were retreating. He asked us to leave him alone and we come back so that he stops the enemy and we retreat safely. The guys kissed his face and put their magazines beside Mehdi Nazari. He shot until the last bullet and finally was martyred”.

The 310^th program of the Sacred Defense Night of Memory was held in Sooreh Hall of the Art Center on Thursday 23^rd of January 2020. It was organized by the Center for Studies and Research of Resistance Culture and Literature and the Office of Resistance Literature and Art. The next program was held on 20^th of February.