Statements in Meeting with Members of the Committee for Commemorating the Martyrs of Mazandaran Province

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

First of all, I sincerely and wholeheartedly thank my dear brothers for your efforts to commemorate those who are truly and justly considered the elite of our time; that is, the martyrs and the Mojahedin. This work itself is very valuable; honoring the martyrs, reviving their names, researching their deeds, producing written, visual, and audio works about their lives and their actions and struggles is a highly valuable endeavor. The list that the esteemed commander mentioned regarding the activities planned for this gathering is a good list; these activities are very good; however, pay attention to ensure that these tasks are carried out deeply; that is, they should not merely fulfill a title, but should be done thoroughly, with opportunity, precision, time investment, utilizing art on one side, and the spirit of research on the other, so that they remain lasting and impactful. Therefore, this work is a very good and valuable endeavor. Of course, I am aware that the people of Mazandaran have already held numerous spontaneous and popular gatherings regarding the martyrs in various parts of the province, which is very valuable; your work is also a collective and significant effort. God willing, may you succeed.

The issue of the Sacred Defense was not only a great test for the Iranian nation, but also a test for the emergence of talents, both individual talents and the talents of regions of the country; now regarding individual talents, I believe this important point is often overlooked; that is, it is so obvious that it is neglected, hidden by the abundance of clarity; and that is that this Sacred Defense became a means for the latent talents in individuals to emerge in a remarkable way. For example, in the IRGC, you observe a young person entering the battlefield who has no knowledge of military matters and is not familiar with them, and within a year, a year and a half, or two years, he transforms into a military strategist; this is very important. Well, now when you look at the states of the martyrs and great commanders, for instance, consider martyr Hassan Baqeri as an example, undoubtedly he is a military planner. Anyone who denies this fact is uninformed; otherwise, anyone who is informed will see that this young man in his twenties is indeed a war planner. When? In 1361 (1982); when did he enter the war? In 1359 (1980). This journey from a private soldier to a military strategist is a twenty-year, twenty-five-year journey; this young man made this transition in two years! This is a very important point. Or consider a certain war commander - now let’s mention martyrs and the deceased; there are many living examples, like our own Mr. Morteza who is sitting here and others, all of whom are of this kind - for example, martyr Bakri; at the beginning of the war, he is a young student who has just graduated; now he has spent some time in the barracks, and then, following Imam's order to come out of the barracks, he comes out; for instance, in Mehr (September) 1359 (1980), martyr Bakri has such a situation. Then you look at him in the operations of Beit al-Muqaddas, in the operations of Kheibar, and before that in the operations of Fath al-Mubin, this young man is a skilled military commander who can lead a division, and in some cases a headquarters, to move and operate. Isn’t this amazing? Isn’t this a miracle? These are the miracles of the revolution. This is regarding the emergence of personalities; now there is much to say in this regard, but I mentioned that these points are so clear that they are overlooked; that is, no one pays attention to who they were? What were they? A twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old young man, and at most thirty years old at the time of martyrdom, and at the peak of a young person's military capabilities; where did he start from to reach this point? In what time did he reach this point? This is very important.

The reason for their skills and the greatness of their work is that our seasoned military personnel, the brothers who were in the army and had worked for years - who sat together in planning operations, in Fath al-Mubin, in Beit al-Muqaddas, in Kheibar, and other places, exchanging ideas - all acknowledged and confirmed their work and thoughts. And a clearer reason is that they were able to encircle a well-equipped army supported by great powers, with all its equipment, in extraordinarily surprising operations to such an extent that they themselves were astonished. For instance, in the operations of Fath al-Mubin, the planning of our young forces, our children, caused the enemy, who had filled that vast desert - I had seen that desert from above during the war; I had observed the enemy's troop placements from those viewpoints, how they had occupied the entire desert, the Abbas Plain and this side and that side - to suddenly feel that this force that is fighting against them is attacking them from behind. Isn’t this important? Isn’t this small? Isn’t it worthy of serious work, thought, research, artistic work, and scholarly investigation? Are these trivial matters? Or in the operations of Beit al-Muqaddas, two or three equipped enemy divisions suddenly feel they are encircled; in this desert region of Khuzestan, they are being attacked from the north, from the east, and from this side. Thus, the importance and correctness of the planning of our youth, these outstanding talents, became evident here, that a well-equipped army, a fully armed force that had both seasoned generals and prominent officers, as they themselves claimed, and was receiving assistance from our enemies at a global level, was being instructed, taught methods, and even tactics; this kind of army was being rendered helpless and defeated against the planning of our youth; what is the reason for this? This indicates that the work here has such greatness and importance. [Therefore] these talents emerged. This is regarding individuals.

The same applies to regions; now I want to mention this in the context of commemorating the martyrs of Mazandaran: Mazandaran truly performed very well in the war. It has more than ten thousand martyrs, and now the gentlemen are rounding up the number, saying ten thousand, but it is more than ten thousand. What does this number of martyrs mean? How many of them went to the front? How many times did they go back and forth? How long did they stay there to present more than ten thousand martyrs over eight years? Now there are well-known martyrs, they are famous, but among the nameless ones, those individuals who possessed the same talents we mentioned, went with this group and were in the war. I had seen the 25th Karbala Division at that time - of course, it was not only the 25th Karbala Division, but also one of them was the 30th Golestan Division and other units that the people of Mazandaran had - the main focus was the 25th Karbala Division; we had seen this division and its work up close, we had heard about it; well, they accomplished a great deal in the war; the people of Mazandaran truly showed self-sacrifice, they sent their youth with sincerity, and these young men went, stood firm, and resisted; in various operations that he mentioned, they were able to accomplish remarkable and significant tasks.

In addition to the issue of the Sacred Defense, the same applies; in the story of Amol, the people of Amol showed an extraordinary popular movement, that Imam (may God’s peace be upon him) mentioned the people of Amol in his will, indicating the greatness of their work - various classes, even women - a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl in this story of Amol goes to fight and reaches martyrdom. Of course, the history of the people of Mazandaran is extensive; I have often said, from ancient times this region of Tabaristan and the area behind these towering mountains, which the victorious armies of the caliphs could not cross, the fugitives of the Prophet's family, these young men who were under pressure in Medina and Kufa and in the regions of Iraq and Hijaz, fled with their women and children and reached the other side where the armed forces of that day could not reach. Therefore, the people of Mazandaran, since they became Muslims, have been followers of the Ahl al-Bayt; that is, from the very beginning, their Islam has been accompanied by following the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them). They accomplished such a great task. Even later, when some Zaydi Sayyids and fighters following the Zaydi school wanted to carry out actions in Yemen, individuals from Mazandaran went to help them and were able to establish the Alawi and Zaydi government in those early centuries in Yemen. In short, the honors of the people of Mazandaran are not limited to one or two instances. Then regarding construction, as was mentioned, the reconstruction of Susangerd was undertaken by the people of Mazandaran; they completed this reconstruction earlier than anyone else and handed it over; that is, they accomplished a significant and outstanding task in the field of construction as well. Until today, thanks be to God, the people of Mazandaran are loyal people; although during the reign of the tyrannical regime, the enemies of Islam and the agents of the tyrannical apparatus worked so hard against religion, piety, chastity, and spirituality - both morally, behaviorally, and ideologically - in this province, nevertheless, these people preserved their faith in this manner and demonstrated it during difficult times. We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God grants you all success and that you can carry out this great work and similar significant tasks in the best possible manner.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.