Surenas
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This thread is dedicated to all heroes who served in the Iranian army, during the Pahlavi era or under the IRI.
Mohammad-Ali Jahanara
Nader Jahanbani
Mr. Mohamad Sahsavari
Manucher Khosrodad
Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh
General Mehdi Rahimi
Let we all make the list longer.
Mohammad-Ali Jahanara
One of the ‘Great Shahids’ or the heroes of the Iran-Iraq war was Mohammad-Ali Jahanara who, at the age of 26, commanded ordinary townsfolk of Khorramshahr who fought the Iraqi invasion of their town inch-by-inch for 45 days before it fell to the enemy.
Nader Jahanbani
Sepahbod (General) Nader Jahanbani was a senior general in Iran under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. He was born into a family with a long military history. His father, Amanullah Jahanbani was also a general, and his mother was from Russian aristocracy. General Nader Jahanbani was known as "The Blue eyed General".
He was a well-known pilot in the Imperial Iranian Air Force before becoming a General. He later was appointed as the head of the Sports Organisation of Iran. Islamic revolutionaries murdered him early by firing squad in Qasr Prison in Tehran
''One of these, 3-star Air Force General Nader Jahanbani, whose self-respect and pride was never shaken by his captors, died with great bravery. He was lucky that he was executed by someone who still respected him. His uniform, possessed by his wife, has only one bullet hole - where it penetrated his heart and made his death merciful.''
Mr. Mohamad Sahsavari
In and amongst the few surviving trophies that would be pushed in front of lenses of Foreign reporters on the actual battlefield where the few (3 x POW) surviving Iranian POW, one of whom was to make History !
With Iraqi T-59/69 in background and Iraqi Republican Guards soldiers laughing and pushing the 3 x Iranian POW in front of Foreign journalist to be filmed, the Iraqi troops where to come across a POW whom while having submitted to new circumstances was to defy Iraqi Propaganda in most Heroic way. Shouting "Margh Bar Saddam" (Death To Saddam) and then "Zed Islam" (Anti-Islam) the Iraqi guards where to slap him to try to shut him up. When this didn't work the POW was dragged and kicked to ground. Regardless the brave Iranian POW continued to defy his captors by shouting "Margh Bar Saddam" and then "Zed Islam"
For almost a few moment as observers one was expecting any moment for this resisting POW was to be shot on site. However the presence of Foreign journalists was to save the POW (killing a POW in front of Foreign Journalist would been cleverest PR).
The famous Iranian POW was to be a Teacher from "Kohnouj" area of Iran by name of "Mr Mohamad Sahsavari" who even in those bleak moments managed to defy Saddam and make all Iranian proud.
Manucher Khosrodad
Major General Khosrodad was the first head of the Special Forces and at the time of execution was Major General of the Imperial Iranian Army Aviation. He had studied at American Defense Academy and the French military school, Saint Cyr, and he mastered English and French. He was a helicopter pilot, Head of Equestrian Federation, and a champion in jumping on horseback. He also liked skiing. His colleague remembers him as a talented and effective manager; a loved and respected commander. Major General Khosrodad was not an affluent man and did not abuse his position to collect wealth. He had no security concern and prior to the Lavizan incident, when four Islamist soldiers shot and killed scores of soldiers and officers during lunch time at cafeteria of the base, would often go out unprotected. During the revolution, before the fall of the monarchy, he believed that army should not be involved in politics and said: “We are soldiers and have nothing to do with politics. I am obedient to whoever governs the country.
His last words before being shot were, ''Long live the king''.
Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh
Hossein Fahmideh, a war hero of Iran and an icon of the Iran-Iraq war. According to his official life story by the Iranian government, he was a 13 year old boy from the city of Qom who, on the outbreak of war in 1980 with Iraq, made his decision to leave his home without his parents knowledge to go to southern Iran and aid in the defense of Khorramshahr. In the besieged city of Khorramshahr, he fought side by side with older Iranian soldiers. At one point, Iraqi forces pushed the Iranian troops back as they were passing through a very narrow canal. Many of the Iranian troops present were either dead or wounded by the heavy Iraqi attacks. Hossein Fahmideh, therefore, took a grenade from a nearby body, pulled the pin out, and jumped underneath an Iraqi tank, killing himself and disabling the tank. This made the Iraqis think that the Iranians had mined the area which stopped the Iraqi tank division's advance.
General Mehdi Rahimi
I was told by his widow that he found his courage by holding between his fingers, a piece of cloth from Karbala, kept in his side trouser pocket. We were looking at a man who faced certain execution, perhaps within hours. He smiled at his interrogators. He spoke of the orders he had given during the previous few days in his quiet Farsi which was translated by Ibrahim Yazdi, a member of Khomeini's Revolutionary Council.
"There was disorder and it was necessary to send in forces to restore order," Rahimi had said. "Even now, my men know what to do." There was no question about his loyalty either. He was an imperial officer who had sworn on the Koran to defend the Shah and the constitution. At one point, Yazdi had asked him, "Whom do you recognise as your overall commander now?" His response had been firm and in a way summarised everything that Rahimi had stood for in his life. "My Commander-in-Chief is His Imperial Majesty, the Shah."
I was sixteen when the first executions were announced. Horrified and worried by the impact of such news on an impressionable teenager, my father had tried to hide the newspapers from me. But I had already seen the big headlines and the grisly photos of Rahimi, Nassiri, Khosrodad and Naji lying in a pool of blood. Not a single word critical of the summary trial, or of the verdict, had found its way into the many pages devoted to the killings. From that day on, I was haunted by the death of Rahimi. I wondered about his final moments.
Then one day I met Alireza Nourizadeh, a prominent journalist. Sitting in his office at the Centre of Arab and Iranian Studies, we talked about the revolution. He told me that on the "Night of the generals" he had stood on the roof and witnessed the executions from close hand. "An instant before the fatal shots cut him down, Rahimi had shouted something defiant into the faces of his executioners," he recalled. Amid the sound of gunfire, the words were indistinct. According to him, Rahimi had shouted: "Javid Shah!" (Long Live the King!)
Let we all make the list longer.
