Memoir of the Brother of Martyr Hasheminejad

The Circumstances of His Martyrdom

Selected by Faezeh Sasanikhah
Translated by Kianoush Borzouei

2025-10-6

On the 5th of Mehr 1360 (September 27, 1981), at the very moment when the enemy had suffered defeat in the siege of Abadan, the Monafeqin, at the command of the United States, sought to embitter this great victory of the Iranian nation. To that end, they assassinated Hojjat al-Islam Hasheminejad, intending to demonstrate to the world that they would never allow the Iranian people to taste victory.

It was only natural that, following the breaking of the siege of Abadan and the resounding success of our combatants, the Monafeqin would target a man who was a thorn in the side of the enemies of Islam—a man whose expressive, thunderous voice put bare their vile and duplicitous nature. On the morning of the 7th of Mehr 1360, at 8 a.m., my brother was martyred at the hands of these American-backed Monafeqin.

Anyone who examines the documents left behind in the Monafeqin’s safe houses or reads the confessions of Amir Yaghmaei, deputy of intelligence of that organization, will find the matter clarified. Yaghmaei, in his interrogation regarding the assassination of Martyr Hasheminejad, stated:

“The plot was devised by Jalal and Shahab, two members of the organization. Initially, the plan was to eliminate the entire class in which Hasheminejad was teaching—among them myself, his brother, who attended daily. Later, however, when they realized that Hadi Alavian, the designated assassin, had been exposed, they said: Tabasi is presently in Mecca, and Hasheminejad is the foremost figure in Mashhad. If we assassinate him, the backbone of the system and government in Mashhad will be broken. For that reason, they handed a grenade to Hadi Alavian, who worked in a bookstall near the holy shrine, instructing him to enter the Party headquarters under the pretext of purchasing books and posters. He was to pull the pin in the restroom and, as Hasheminejad exited the classroom, kill him.”

The attempt, first scheduled for Sunday, failed when Hasheminejad did not attend. The operation was postponed to Tuesday. On that day, Alavian carried out the plan as Hasheminejad left the Party building.

This was part of Yaghmaei’s testimony. Yet the true account of that tragic day is as follows:

Hasheminejad held classes one or two days each week at the Islamic Republican Party headquarters in Mashhad, situated on what was then Eshratabad Street (today Shahid Hasheminejad Street). The Party building faced the Mohibban-al-Reza complex and a gas station, with the Sahel bathhouse farther down, and the Social Organization office to its left.

On that Tuesday, Hasheminejad entered the Party headquarters, while members gathered in the assembly hall and prayer room. I, his brother and the writer of this memoir, attended all of his sessions. That day, however, the car and driver meant to take me failed to arrive; the driver called to say the car had broken down. Deeply distressed at being deprived of the session, I phoned his office. They replied that he had already gone to class. I said: Please inform him of my situation—what should I do? He instructed: Tell him to remain at home until the driver arrives after class. Given the grave security conditions and the menace of the Monafeghin, I obeyed and stayed home.

A few minutes before 8 a.m., the radio interrupted its broadcast: “Inna lillah wa inna ilayh raji‘un. Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Hasheminejad has been martyred.”

For one awaiting the driver to escort him to his brother’s side, the news was nothing short of devastating. Stunned, bewildered, I thought: How could this be? Only moments ago he was in the Party headquarters—how could he now be martyred? Disregarding both security concerns and his own advice to stay home, I rushed out. Just as I opened the gate, an IRGC vehicle, sirens blaring, pulled up. I leapt inside and shouted: Take me to the Party immediately!

As we approached, I was confronted with a harrowing scene: masses of people in distress, wailing and weeping, crying out that he had been taken to Imam Reza Hospital. I begged the guards to take me there. Upon arrival, I rushed to the morgue—and there, suddenly, I beheld his mangled body, his severed hands similar to Hazrat Abolfazl. His blood-soaked face shattered me. I screamed and collapsed, trembling uncontrollably. In that moment, I remembered Imam Hussein, when he came upon the fallen Abolfazl, cried out, “Now my back is broken!”

Only then did I truly comprehend the agony of losing a brother—that a brother’s death is understood only by the brother left behind.

The assassin was Hadi Alavian of Quchan, a member of the Monafeqin who had infiltrated the student branch of the Islamic Republican Party in Mashhad, later working at a bookstall near the shrine. Well-known to the guards, he could freely enter. On that fateful morning, under the pretext of collecting presidency posters, he entered the Party, concealed a grenade, and waited near the exit. When Hasheminejad emerged from class to address the youth gathered in another hall, the assassin, exploiting a brief gap between him and his guards, approached from behind, embraced him, thrust the grenade under his abdomen, and flung him to the ground. The explosion tore through his body—abdomen ripped open, hands severed. He was rushed to hospital, but it was too late. Alavian himself, foolish and blind-hearted, instead of fleeing outward, ran back into the Party building, only to be cut down in a hail of bullets.

As the Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, later declared: “The Monafeqin completed the unfinished work of SAVAK in martyring Hasheminejad.”

The events unfolded precisely as recounted here; the claim that the assassin was among his students is an utter falsehood.

When his body was taken to the hospital, I remained beside him. The doors were closed to prevent the public from flooding in. Following the plan, I addressed the people through loudspeaker, expressing condolences, gratitude, and requesting that the funeral be postponed until the following day, to allow participation from the Imam’s representatives, the government, parliament, and delegations from other cities and provinces.

The next day, with hundreds of thousands present, his body was carried from the morgue on the shoulders of physicians, then placed upon an ambulance to be taken to the holy shrine of Imam Reza. So immense was the crowd—drawn by his popularity and the people’s deep affection—that the procession advanced with great difficulty. Newspapers and news agencies, both domestic and foreign, described the turnout as unprecedented in the history of Khorasan and Mashhad.

As the cortege moved toward the shrine, one end of the multitude was still at Khosravi Street while the other had only just left the hospital. Within the shrine, mourners struck their chests in grief, chanting:
“Today is a day of mourning, Imam Reza grieves, the hypocrites’ terror is in vain, the movement shall endure until the advent of Mahdi.” And: “Hashemi, Hashemi, by your pure blood we swear, your path shall be pursued.”

With profound sorrow, the torn and sanctified body of this beloved son of Zahra was laid to rest beside Imam Reza, scarcely twenty meters from the Imam’s resting place. Each day, thousands of pilgrims stand by his grave, reciting Fatiha and renewing their pledge to continue his path. May his soul be at peace, and his legacy find countless followers. In conclusion, I must extend gratitude to Astan Quds Razavi, Hojjat al-Islam Tabasi, and his deputy of the time for their efforts and support.^[1]