The 369th Night of Memoirs-4

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

2025-8-12

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.

Hajj Javad Aligoli was the third and final speaker at the 369th Night of Memoir ceremony. He shared the following memory:

“During the Sacred Defense, I served in the propaganda unit of the 27th Muhammad Rasulullah Division (PBUH). One of the often-overlooked aspects of the Sacred Defense—though later it received some attention—was the role of propaganda in war.

I used to talk about this subject with teenagers, but they had no idea that something called war propaganda even existed. Most people assumed that war was only about cannons, tanks, and weapons, because not much had been said or documented about the propaganda efforts.

In 2015, before Operation Dawn-8, the intelligence unit had identified a location and needed a reliable cameraman to go and film it. They asked me to do it. I had a video camera that required a separate tape recorder—another person had to carry it and hold the coil wire for filming. The tape didn’t fit inside the camera itself. Each battery allowed only about 20 to 25 minutes of filming.

We drove to an unknown location and eventually arrived at Majnoon Island. After parking the vehicles, we boarded a boat. The marshes there were filled with floating reeds that weren’t rooted in the mud. These reeds would drift with the boat’s waves, blocking the path and making it impossible to turn back.

Martyr Hajj Saeed Mohtadi, who was the head of the intelligence unit, was on our boat. Mr. Javanbakht and a few others were also present, though I don’t recall all their names. We remained in that marsh until nightfall, lost and unsure how to reach the intelligence team because the route kept getting blocked.

Eventually, we encountered members of the Badr and Iraqi Muawiyah divisions. They had repurposed bridges left from Operation Khyber, set up tents on them, and were living there. We spent the night with them.

In the morning, after breakfast, we continued on and finally reached the intelligence team. It was raining, which made filming impossible. The scouts would go ahead, laying out tarps and marking lines to show the paths and the strength of enemy positions.

When the rain stopped, I realized the battery had died. These batteries drained suddenly. They brought an electric generator to recharge it. A strange smell started coming from the battery, so we quickly unplugged it—thankfully, it still charged.

I turned to Martyr Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini—who is eternally remembered and whose body remained in Shalamcheh during Operation Karbala-5—and said, ‘Mr. Seyyed, I can’t film for more than 25 minutes. What should we do?’

He replied, ‘We’ll do the reconnaissance now. We’ll film everything on the way back when the route is clear.’

We set off in speedboats and reached the "Umm al-Ma'ash" strait, located in the middle of Hur al-Huwayz. After reaching a designated location, we hid the boats among the reeds. Two other Belem boats were already there, carrying three individuals. I boarded the first boat along with an intelligence officer and an Iraqi guide. Three others got into the second boat.

We navigated through narrow corridors of water until we came to a point where we had to leave the waterway and move into the reeds. Going through the main waterway would have led us directly into the hands of the Iraqis. Pushing into the dense reeds was difficult. As we advanced, we saw Iraqi soldiers laughing, chasing each other, and unloading ammunition from a vehicle. Sayed whispered, "Let’s go." I stood on one foot on the dome of the Belem boat while Sayed held my waist with one hand to steady me. With the other hand, he used an oar to part the reeds so I could film the Iraqi troops.

Eventually, we emerged from the reeds. They had been pushing tightly against the boat, slowing us down. Suddenly, we entered an open canal. Just 15 meters ahead, I saw an Iraqi soldier crouched near the water, playing with a stick. If he had looked up, God knows what might have happened. I said, “Mr. Sayed, let’s pause and film him.” But our Iraqi companion was visibly tense. If he were captured by the Iraqis, not only would he be executed, but his family would also face the same fate. He firmly said, “No! It’s not possible.”

We continued out of the reeds. I filmed the canals and our return route. The footage was meant to brief the battalion commander about the operational area. We later handed over a summary of the film.

The narrator continued: Another important aspect of the Sacred Defense was documenting the war through photography, filming, calligraphy, and painting. Much of the footage you see today from the war was recorded by us. After the Karbala-5 operation, a reporter from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting entered our trench and said, “The Khatam headquarters announced that an operation has taken place and some areas have been liberated—but we don’t have any footage to broadcast. If you have something, give it to us so we can show it and prove the operation happened. Otherwise, Iraq will deny it.” I handed the film to the reporter, and it was aired.

The narrator then mentioned some of the martyrs: Martyr Mehdi Falahatpour, Masoud Asadi, and Fazel Rahim Mohammadi had documented the siege of the Ansar Battalion. Morteza Avini saw the footage, admired it, and after editing, it was broadcast in a "Narration of Victory" episode called Rose-Garden in Fire.

Saeed Janbozorghi started as a cartoonist. Later, he became a graphic designer, moved to Tehran, pursued a master's degree, and eventually became a photographer. Many young people were trained in cultural work. We lost 20 to 30 martyrs in the course of these efforts.

Seyyed Jamal Hosseini was crossing the Arvand River to return from Faw when he was hit by a shell and martyred on the water. Martyr Heydar Khodayi, another photographer, was martyred during the liberation of Mehran. Mehdi Falahatpour was later martyred in Lebanon. Many of our comrades went missing. Photographers would accompany battalions into operations and never return—vanishing without a trace.

The End