The 369th Night of Memoirs-3

Compiled by: Iranian Oral History Website
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2025-8-4

Note: The 369th Night of Memoir ceremony was held online on June 2 of 2025, in the remembrance of the martyrs of the Israeli attack. This event took place in the virtual space of the Islamic Revolution Arts Center. During the program, Seyyed Abbas Heydari Rabouki, Seyyed Amir Abdullahi, and Hajj Javad Aligoli shared their memories. The program was hosted by Davood Salehi.

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The second narrator of the Night of Memoir program, Seyyed Amir Abdullahi, was born on April 20 of 2025, from the Chahar Sadat Dastgah neighborhood of Nazi Abad [city]. He went to the front at the age of 16. He began his military operations in 1982 during the Muslim bin Aqeel Offensive and remained on the front lines until the Karbala-5 operation, where he lost both of his legs. His brother was also martyred at the front, and for this reason, the narrator considers himself to have received two symbolic honors from Imam Abul Fazl (pbuh): one for the martyrdom of his brother, and another for his own bravery. He recalled: “I was a Basij soldier during the war. In 1983, during the Dawn-4 operation, in the Maysam battalion, which was known as the Laat battalion. There were 500 Basij soldiers who were under the Iraqis’ feet, a short distance from them. I was perhaps the seventh or eighth person. Martyr Ebrahim Kasaian was the commander of the Maysam battalion. We slept side by side. I saw with my own eyes that the Iraqis did not see us. Of course, I should also say that the prayers that the comrades were praying and the fake prayers that they were reciting had made the Iraqis blind and deaf.

There are many memories of the front and the war. I described this memory to the Leader of the Revolution. I participated in many operations, such as Dawn-8, Khyber, Badr, and... but the Karbala-5 operation was one of the most difficult operations. In this operation, I lost both my legs in Shalamcheh. Perhaps it can be said that Karbala-5 set the stage for the war and eventually led to the acceptance of Resolution 598. In this operation, the comrades fought like Zahrais.

We went one stage forward with the Salman Farsi Battalion of the Hazrat Rasul (pbuh) comrades of Tehran and returned. When we went to the first stage, some of the comrades were martyred and injured. The battalion was rebuilt and organized. We moved forward again. I had never done this in any operation, so it was strange for me too. I took a seal. I went and found an empty tent. There was no one in the tent. It was before the noon call to prayer. I put my head towards the Qiblah (mecca) and prostrated. I was not one for these things at all. I didn’t understand what had happened for a minute. I prostrated and prayed to God. I also said a few words. The narrator continued: “In the meantime, I fell asleep. I saw a sea in front of me. I was moving towards this sea on all fours. The sea was not ordinary—it glowed white with a majestic, almost sacred brilliance. It was special. I saw to my left and right some people behind me, some close and some further away, and they were all coming towards the sea. During this operation, Seyyed Mahdi, my brother, was with me. We were together in both the first and second stages. I saw Seyyed Mahdi standing on my shoulders and he had grown very tall. I had to raise my head very high to see his face. Seyyed Mahdi was on my shoulder, walking on all fours towards the sea. I got close to the sea. I saw my friends diving into the water and disappearing into the sea. Seyyed Mahdi also left my shoulder. He dived into the sea and disappeared. No matter what I did, I couldn’t reach the sea. I stretched out my right hand. No matter how hard I tried, one of the waves hit my hand. I felt strange. Suddenly Seyyed Mahdi called out me and said, “Get up. It’s time for prayer.” I woke up. I saw that he was wearing his new Basij uniform. He usually didn’t wear that uniform. I said to him, “Have you finally worn it?” He said, “Remember what I said I kept for a special day? Well, today is that special day.” I didn’t understand the interpretation of the dream. I didn’t even understand Seyyed Mahdi’s words. I got up and said, “God willing, it will be fine.”

The narrator continued: When I had told the story of this dream to the leader, he said: “This is not just a dream. This is a revelation to you.” I stayed. They said: “Are you surprised that I said revelation?” I said: “Sir, revelation is for the prophets.” They said: “No, where you were, where the comrades were, was a clean and holy area. It was a revelation, not a dream.” When I told the story of this dream to martyr Qasim [solimani], he also used the same word revelation. Sayyid Mahdi called out that it was time for prayer. At that moment, they said that the Salman Battalion should be ready to move. We boarded the buses and went to the Shahadah intersection. There, the bus took a wrong turn to the right. We saw that the comrades were speaking Gillaki [northern Iranian dialect]. We realized that they were the comrades of the Karbala-25 Division and the northern comrades. We went to the comrades of the Prophet (pbuh) army, and the fighting began. I had never seen such a volume of fire until that day, but the comrades were fighting bravely. The kids were going to the other side of the embankment to hunt tanks. The RPGs had no effect on them. They were slow and not everyone could hit those tanks, but the Iraqis were afraid to come forward. Maybe because of the fear that God had given to these comrades.

The fighting was intense. On my left, two RPG fighters were martyred. One was wounded. The Iraqis had flanked us on our left and were hitting us. I had hit an RPG before, but I was not an RPG fighter. I said, "I will continue." I took the RPG and told the kids, "I will hold this side.While I was aiming at a tank, the enemy fired at the same time. My RPG hit the underside of the tank but didn’t destroy it. His shot also landed in front of me but didn’t explode. His direct shot also hit and fell in front of me but did not work. I was following the bullet with my eyes. It hit the ground and curved and fell behind me; but it still didn't work. I came and sat in the trench and said to myself: "Well, you’ve made it here, Dad! My ears were ringing from the blast. I couldn’t hear the mortar anymore. I sat in the trench, and then Seyyed Mahdi tapped my shoulder and gestured that it was time to pray. I said: "Then I will pray until the tanks come. Then you pray." I prayed the noon and afternoon prayers in the trench. I was sitting in the same trench. I had an RPG in my hand. The scouts said: “RPG gunners, be ready." Seyyed Mahdi said: "Then I will pray too." As I sat ready with the RPG, I was facing Iran and my back was to Iraq. I was sitting at an angle that I noticed Seyyed Mahdi prostrated. He prayed the noon prayer. An Iraqi plane came and bombed the line. Cluster bombs were dropping. Nothing happened. Seyyed Mahdi stood up and started the afternoon prayer. I was also sitting. I remember it well. When I tell my loved ones about it, I get emotional. I think it was the third or fourth rak'ah. Sayyid Mahdi bowed and then prostrated. The moment Sayyid Mahdi bowed, the sound of the airplane and the explosion all mingled together. For a moment, the ground beneath my feet became empty. Even though I was sitting, it was as if I was sitting on the floor of a trench. At first, I thought I had been martyred. Because I could only see darkness. Of course, I wanted to be a martyr.

A short time passed. There was dust. The trench had collapsed. I was suffocating from the pressure of the soil that had fallen. The bags of soil had fallen. I was not paying attention to Seyyed Mahdi. My friends came above me. I said, "Take the bags so I can pull myself together." I saw them panicking and looking behind me. They took the second bag so that I would feel a little better. My breathing also improved. I saw my friend Mr. Ali Keshvari take the next bag; but he just looked. I also looked into Ali's eyes. I shouted: "Why don't you take the bags so that I can get rid of them? Get me out of the trench." This cluster had exploded under my feet. My legs had shattered. When I looked into his eyes, I was dizzy. Then I suddenly remembered that Seyyed Mahdi was behind me. I turned to see how Mehdi was. I saw that one of the clusters had fallen on him while he was prostrating; he had no head and his chest had been torn apart.

He was one year younger than me. At that moment, I didn't understand anything. But God is my witness, I remembered Karbala. I remembered Imam Hussein (pbuh) calling his brother. The comrades took me out of the trench and took me to the rescuers. I knew that the Shalamcheh area was an area where there would definitely be a retreat. That's why I told the comrades to write on Seyyed Mahdi's feet and where he remained unharmed, "Seyyed Mahdi Abdollahi, Abu Dharr Battalion Dispatcher, force of the 400th Battalion" until it was clear and bring his body. May God bless him. They wrote and brought his body.

To be continued...