Memoirs of Behzad Rastegari

Machine Translation Edited by Mandana Karimi

2026-09-02

Dr. Behzad Rastegari was a guest on the 288th Shab Khatreh (Night of Rememberance) program (February 2018). He reminisced about Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas. Rastegari said: “During Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas, we were working in the city of Susangerd and a hospital. We had worked for three days. We were very tired and hungry. With the guys, we decided to go to the residence of Jihad of Construction and have a meal there. We found the school where Najafabad’s Jihad was located. When I entered the school, I saw a person sitting by the faucet washing his clothes. I went closer and saw Dr. Mohammad Ali Abutorabi. He was covered in blood from head to toe and there was even blood inside his shoes. I asked: “Where were you, Doctor?” He said: “I was in the hills of Allahu Akbar, I was working alone there.” After that operation, we accompanied him and became a team. We called him for all operations, and he called us. The nature of war was that sometimes the guys would get depressed and sad, especially in our work, which was constantly dealing with sighs and groans, wounds and injuries, but Dr. Abutorabi did not let us feel depressed. As soon as we were idle, he would try to familiarize us with Islamic teachings, hadiths and verses of the Quran, or sometimes he would play interesting games and jokes to cheer us up.

In our medical team, there were some friends that were regular and some that were variable. According to the rules of war, medical emergencies are formed far from the front line. But during the war, we took the emergencies to the front line; Even in some operations, ahead of the front line, where we were supposed to reach later. Dr. Aboutorabi and his team always endeavored and took over the emergencies. One of the characteristics of the doctor was that when he reached a wounded person, he would improve the mental state of that wounded person with love and attention and lift them up. With the doctor at the center, great things were done in the emergency room. He would not let anyone say they were tired, he would constantly walk around the emergency room and check all the beds. In the preliminary operation of Valfajr, we had 11 to 12 beds in the emergency room, and each bed had a number of people responsible for doing the work. The doctor walked around and checked everyone so that no one made a mistake. When the operation moved forward, they handed over an emergency room that was ahead to us. The operation was very difficult and many wounded people came. I came out of the emergency room for a moment and saw that the wounded were lying all over the emergency room, and there was no vehicle to take them back.

 The doctor was worried that an injured person would come to the emergency room and they would not get their treatment properly; for this reason, he would not let us think about things that were not our responsibility and would try to make us all aware of our responsibilities and tasks. I was bandaging the amputated leg of a soldier. A driver came and said: I have brought a number of martyrs. It seems that one of them is not a martyr. Would you come and take a look at him? I said: It doesn't matter if he is a martyr or not, take him and bring him in. The person went and brought the injured person. I saw that both of his legs had been crushed by a mine. I brought him into the emergency room and laid him on a bed. He had no vital signs. We put a tube in his airway and gave him CPR to resuscitate him. The doctor was passing by. We said to him: It seems that it is no use! He said: Your mind is a little clearer now, continue your work. We were performing CPR on the injured young man for about 20 minutes when I saw one of the arteries in his severed leg move. I told them to continue. We took turns giving massage and breathing. Slowly, I saw his free hand retract. The doctor said, "Continue." We continued until blood started coming out of his legs. The injured man became restless because of the tube in his airway, so we removed it. I asked him, "What is your name, son?" He said, "Akbar." Suddenly, the entire emergency room shouted, "Allahu Akbar".

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So far, 381 programs have been held to commemorate the Holy Defense by Resistance Literature and Culture and Studies Center. The next program will be held on Thursday, August 27, 2026.

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