Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (25)

Edited by Mohsen Kazemi

Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (25)
Edited by Mohsen Kazemi
Soureh Mehr Publishing Company
(Original Text in Persian, 2000)
Translated by Mohammad Karimi

Being Trained in Hezbollah

We needed some training to ready to fight against the regime consciously. So we scheduled program for the needed trainings such as martial arts, shooting and ideological discussions somewhere around brick kilns near Khavaran Road. We (Abu Sharif, Sepasi Ashtiani and I) would go to places far behind the public eyes in order to save any human or animal from the possible hurts of our shooting and also not to make any suspicion.
In another program, Abba Agha Zamani conducted Arabic Language classes first in Haj Amjad Mosque (1) and then in Amir-al-Mu’menin Mosque (2). These classes were free and in a new style and beside the call Agha Zamani would ask the participants to memorize some Koranic verses particularly the ones about Jihad.
Ayatollah Musavi Ardebili – the prayer leader clergy at Amir-al-Mu’menin Mosque- despite knowing Abbass had been a political prisoner, had agreed to hold these classes and provide the expenses for publishing the news about them in the press from the mosques budget. Then the other classes were also introduced and expanded. After some time Jamal Nikou Ghadam (3), Javad Mansouri and Abbas Douzdouzani accepted to conduct these classes. These classes would hold in a 3-story building belonging to the mosque which was located beside it. I would participate in some of these classes and would write down the weaknesses and the positive points and later discuss about them in the meetings of Hezbollah central members.
However, my main job there in theses class was to find capable people to join Hezbollah.
We would follow three goals by this method:
Proselytization and conducting cultural activities;
Recognizing capable people to be invited to Hezbollah;
Direct and use the capacities of people.
We would the knowledge and experience of some of friends and teachers in these classes in a way that they were not aware that they were working for political organization. Of course I should admit that their intentions were all just for the God’s sake and nothing else.
Agha Zamani wad the director of all classes and his presence would flourish them. In the spring of 1968 and at the advent of beginning the classes Abbas’s father got sick so hard. The doctors said that he had to be sent abroad for treatment. Since he had to have somebody along with for this trip, Abbas went ready to go with him to Germany because of his knowledge of German language. However, he had problems to get out of the country; so Ayatollah Ardebili got some help from other members of the Mosque’s board of trustees and managed to remove the impediments for his departure and this way Abbas went.
This trip took two months. In Germany he could make contacts with Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and individuals like Hussein Rezai and Hassan Massali (4) who had Marxist orientations. He could gather useful information about how to send people to Lebanon to pass guerilla fighting trainings and also about safe houses in Europe and Asia and safe paths to reach militia training centers.
Abbas Agha Zamani’s trip to Germany and later Sa’id Mohammadi Fateh’s brought some difficulties for me.

Sa’id Mohammadi Fateh’s Departure

Sa’id Mohammadi Fateh was a son of Vajihullah Mohamadi Fateh - Tin Can Manufacturing Company manager and owner. I knew him in the factory. Gradually this relation changed to a friendship. Sa’id was an enthusiastic believer young man and interested in revolutionary activities. He was eager to know what had happened to me in prison and what were my experiences and knowledge. Whenever he would find some time, he would come to me and ask about prison and fighting. I would mostly talk about believes and insight for the fight. His motivation and commitment were interesting to me.
I was fed up with the wrongdoings of the chief accountant of the factory and Sa’id helped me to change my post to a new one and I was moved to workers’ section. My job was in control and loading section. Here I could find more contacts with other workers.
After some time without introducing the Hezbollah group to Sa’id, I invited him to Abbas Agha Zamani classes. He was attracted to these classes and believed that Abbas was a knowledgeable teacher. When Sa’id was informed about the fighting background of Abbas became more interested in him. Sa’id’s enthusiasm made it possible for him to have good growth in ideological fields. Now he had become a Hezbollah member without being aware of it. So when he was arrested he had nothing to say about Hezbollah group.
The regime was getting ready to conduct 2500th anniversary of Persian Empire for few years. We were aware of this matter in Hezbollah group. After holding several meeting and many discussions we decided to do an operation against these feasts. So we started to get ready by shooting exercises and martial arts.
It was about the winter of 1969 that the factory’s owner decided to participate in Osaka Industrial Exhibition in Japan and then import some industrial machinery for his production line. He suggested Sa’id to go to this exhibition. Sa’id who was interested in political affairs, Islamic movements and the destiny of Palestinian fight against Israel, accepted this suggestion after consulting with us.
We encouraged him to go there because we wanted to send him out of the country in order to go to Germany and then training camps in Lebanon to learn militia fighting. Reaching to this goal would facilitate our operation against 2500th anniversary feasts.
At the time of Sa’id’s departure I was doing my military service in Semnan and would come to Tehran only once in a weak. However, I would never lose a chance to talk about ideological matters with Sa’id. The other palls also began working on him.
Abbas Agha Zamani who had recently come back from Germany, gave the address of Hussein Reza’i and Hassan Massali and other places along with a recommendation letter to Sa’id. He hid the papers in his bag and then went to Japan. His family and I went with him to the airport and when he went I came back.

When Osaka Industrial Exhibition was over and the orders of the father were done, Mohammadi Fateh went directly toward Germany. Mohammad -Sa’id’s brother informed us that he had reached Germany safely.
Because of being informed about Sa’id’s activities and situation I made friends with his lesser brother Mohammad Mohammadi Fateh. Mohammad was a good and understanding boy but inexperienced. He would tell me the latest news about his brother to me. Additionally, Sa’id himself began sending me letters with a pseudonym, Mohammad Behtash, because of his lack of experience. I did my best not to reply any of his letters; however, in some cases I had to write him back. So I chose the pseudonym of Samad for writing to him.
When Sa’id reached Germany (winter of 1968), he began looking for the addresses he had taken from Agha Zamani. On the first night he could not find Hussein Reza’i but he met someone who had introduced himself as a friend of Hussein Reza’i. That man had become suspicious about Sa’id’s trip and could cleverly make Sa’id trust him. He hoaxed Mohammadi Fateh and he revealed the secrets of his trip and his relations abroad. As a result of lack of experience, Sa’id revealed his ideas and even the goals of his trip and explained how he had gone to Osaka and his reason for coming to Germany.
The next night that Sa’id could see Hussein Reza’ii, he denies the existence of such a friend. It was clear that he had been a SAVAK agent abroad. So, on the very early days of Sa’ids trip, the goals and reasons behind his trip became clear for SAVAK. From that date all his activities and moves were under the monitoring of SAVAK. Sa’id went to Lebanon from Germany and for two years passed different courses for guerilla and militia fighting.

1- Haj Ahmad Mosque is located at the beginning of Imam Zadeh Ma’soum Bridge;
2- Amir-al-Mo’menin Mosue is located in Kargar-Nosrat crossroads;
3- Seyyed Jamak Nikou Ghadam was born in 1325. At the time of arrest, he was a teacher in Tehran schools. In the process of revision court for the trial of INP members, he was sentenced to 4 years in prison.
4- Hassan Massali and Hussein Reza’i are among the main and active members of Iranian Students World Confederation and Iranian National Front in Europe. Hassan Massali was elected as a board member of Confederation’s secretariat during the 3rd (January of 1963), 4th (January of 1964) and 10th (January of 1969) congresses. Reza’i along with Dr. H. H. Heldmann came back to Iran as delegates of Amnesty International, Austrian Branch, to check the conditions of political prisoners in Iran in 1970. Both were summoned to SAVAK and interrogated and then Dr. H. H. Heldmann departed Iran and Reza’i was arrested, trialed and imprisoned and remain there till February 1979.
(See: World Conferation- Hamid Shokat)