The Dusk of the Sixth Day

Narrated by Gholamhossein Bashardoust

Written by Mahya Hafezy
Translated by Kianoush Borzouei

2025-2-17

Hojatoleslam Gholamhossein Bashardoust, who, following the martyrdom of Mostafa Radanipour, remained the one and only cleric in a senior wartime command position, boasts a distinguished record as the commander of the Karbala Headquarters during the Sacred Defense. The book The Dusk of the Sixth Day is named in remembrance of the six-day-long Operation Badr in the marshlands and comprises eighteen chapters of interviews with him. The interviews and compilation of the book were undertaken by Mohammad Mehdi Behdarvand.

The book's cover design, consistent with other oral history publications from the Center for Sacred Defense Documentation and Research, features variations only in color. A wartime image of the narrator, notably absent of clerical attire, decorates the cover. The book opens with a publisher’s foreword, followed by an extensive introduction authored by the interviewer and compiler. The text has been structured in a first-person narrative style, with the original questions and answers omitted for fluidity.

Preceding the book’s main chapters, a chronological timeline details the narrator’s life from his birth in 1955 to 2007, outlining significant events and his various responsibilities.

In the first chapter, the narrator discusses his familial background, education, and formative years in seminary studies. He was born in Babolsar and abandoned his secondary education in that city. In 1973, after fleeing home, he relocated to the Qom Seminary to pursue religious studies.

The second chapter is dedicated to the sociopolitical climate in Qom on the eve of the Islamic Revolution. It commences with the events of the night of June 4, 1975, and provides a brief account of the narrator’s participation in street demonstrations leading up to the Revolution’s victory on February 11, 1979. The chapter concludes with recollections of the formation of the Islamic Revolution Committees and the Construction Jihad movement in Babolsar.

Chapters three and four detail the Iraqi army’s invasion of Iran and the narrator’s involvement in early defensive operations aimed at halting enemy advances. In February 1981, he arrived in Ahvaz and soon thereafter took part in combat operations alongside the martyr Mostafa Chamran’s group. These chapters also provide accounts of limited-scale military engagements such as Operations Imam Mahdi and Imam Ali.

Chapters five through sixteen chronicle pivotal military operations, including Tariq al-Qods, Fath al-Mobin, Beit al-Moqaddas, Ramadan, Muslim ibn Aqil, the series of Valfajr Operations, Kheibar, Badr, Valfajr 8, Karbala 4, Karbala 5, and Nasr 4. Each chapter is devoted to a single operation, though some chapters are relatively short, spanning only three to four pages.

In the seventeenth chapter, the narrator reflects on Iran’s acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 598. He cites a shortage of military resources as the primary reason for the decision. This chapter also touches upon the appointment of Hojatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as the Supreme Leader’s deputy in armed forces command, as well as his subsequent designation as the commander of the war effort. The chapter includes an appended letter from the commander of the IRGC addressed to the narrator, though its contents are categorized more as documented knowledge than personal memoirs.

The book concludes with an account of the role of martyr Ali Sayyad Shirazi in the war, featuring brief recollections of Operation Mersad.

The final section comprises documents, photographs, and an index. Throughout the text, various images of individuals and operational maps are incorporated, complete with captions. Some operational maps are printed in color, enhancing the visual clarity of the narratives. The book’s explanatory elements, supplemented by footnotes, are commendably executed.

The first edition of The Dusk of the Sixth Day was published in 2024 by the Center for Sacred Defense Documentation and Research, spanning 528 pages, with a print run of 1,000 copies in a standard octavo format, priced at 2,000,000 rials.