Heroes of the 8-year Holy Defence (3)

Welcome to the third part of our special series on the occasion of the Holy Defence Week marking start of the 8 year war imposed in 1980 by the US through its agent Saddam of the tyrannical Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad.

Day before yesterday’s edition of Heroes of the 8-year Holy Defence, focused on the achievements of the martyred defence minister, Mostafa Chamran, while yesterday’s edition featured the exploits of two teenaged Iranian students, Behnam Mohammadi of Khorramshahr, and Mohammad Hussain Fahmideh of Karaj against the might of the Ba’thist war machine.

Today we present you glimpses of the heroism of Ahmad Motavasselian, who after service against the anti-revolutionaries in Kurdistan and participation in the liberation of the port city of Khorramshahr, was kidnapped in Beirut by the Phalangist terrorist militia, while on a diplomatic mission to Lebanon, and handed over to the illegal Zionist entity, along with four other Iranian officials. It is not known whether Ahmad Motavasselian and colleagues are still languishing in Israeli dungeons or have achieved martyrdom.

The Ba’thist war machine invaded Iran some 20 months after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, which has ever since been the target of Global Arrogance and their agents. Saddam was provided some 70 billion dollars by Saudi Arabia alone to try to topple the Islamic Republic of Iran.

At the same time, anti-revolutionaries raised their ugly heads in some border provinces, but thanks to the dedication of Iranian youths the seditionists were crushed and the Ba’thists driven back from many areas they had initially occupied. One such hero of the defence of Islam and the Islamic homeland was Ahmad Motevasselian, who was born in a religious family in Tehran in 1953.

Since his teenage years, he was active in religious gatherings, Qur’an classes and political activities against the British-installed and US-supported tyrannical Pahlavi regime. During his conscription period before the Islamic Revolution, he was targeted by senior officers for his Islamic activities and his objection to the widespread corruption in the armed forces. Because of this he was frequently arrested and tortured by the dreaded secret service SAVAK. This only strengthened his resolve in his Islamic ideals and on release he played an active role in the nationwide demonstrations against the Pahlavi regime.

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he joined the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps IRGC. On the outbreak of sedition in Kurdistan in 1979, Motevasselian along with 66 volunteers was dispatched to Bukan, where he showed his commanding capabilities by defeating the dangerously armed anti-revolutionaries. He then went to Saqez and Baneh, followed by Sanandaj to clear these regions from the nuisance of foreign-backed anti-revolutionaries. His team succeeded in liberating Sanandej where he was ably assisted by the two youthful combatants Mohammad Borujerdi and Asghar Wesali.

Ahmad Motevaselian was stationed in Kurdistan for months several months after the Ba’thist invasion of Iran, and commanded the IRGC in the Marivan region. In 1981, he performed the Hajj pilgrimage and was moved to the southern war theatre in Khuzestan, where he established the Mohammad Rasool-Allah Division and was its commander. This led to the liberation of major parts of Iranian lands from the occupation of Ba’thist forces.

He then played an important role in the liberation of the strategic port city of Khorramshahr. In mid-June 1982, he was a member of a senior diplomatic group of political and military officials to Syria to examine the ways of helping the oppressed and defenseless people of Lebanon.

On July 4, 1982, when the vehicle carrying the diplomats was passing through a checkpoint post on its way to Beirut, it was stopped by the Phalangist terrorists, and the four Iranians, despite having diplomatic immunity, were kidnapped.

The three others, beside Ahmad Motevasselian, were Seyyed Mohsin Musavi, Mohammad Taqi Rastegar Moqaddam, and IRNA journalist and photographer Kazem Akhavan. Later they were handed over to the Zionist entity, and their whereabouts are unknown to this day.

FK/AS/SS