Military Operations and Emergency Response

Missiles were being fired into our dining area and hitting us.

Two of our liaison officers were martyred. I have to go in myself.

Tehran Province's northwest emergency service has a commander

and brave manager named Mehdi Bahreini.

That night, when it comes, they hit very hard.

If you've been there, you know which night I mean. They hit very hard.

He called me and said, "Chief, let's talk in a friendly

way." I said, "Speak respectfully." He said, "Two of our liaison officers

were martyred."

I have to go in myself. Okay? They're hitting there too.

You go inside the Bidganeh barracks.

And, well, we had a very close relationship with the barracks commanders.

All military settings are

like civilian settings. He called me and said, "If anything

happens to me, for example, look after my wife and child, something like that." I said, "What kind of

talk is that? Be brave, be strong." He went.

Then the next day, I saw that over the radio in the northwest, there was

an atmosphere of mourning, an atmosphere of grief. Over the radio, I sent a message

I was giving. More power to you and your side.

What you see there, brother, is natural.

Stay firm, stay strong. I salute each and every one of you,

brother. If your hearts ache, mine aches too.

This was broadcast. The next day, that very next day, I went

to northwest Shahriar. I gathered all these guys and said we should

have lunch together. God knows, while we were having lunch,

missiles were being launched and striking, and they were

responding.

Bidganeh is the only

operational missile base in Tehran Province. It's known as

the Haft-e Tir base.

And, um, in a way, we became attached to it.

I mean, when they were go— to strike, the enemy would fire missiles, and we

were waiting to see when they would launch. It was very—

It was really a rivalry. Israel would come and strike, and these guys, 40 minutes

later, would respond immediately.

I went into the meeting and sat down. Mr. Mahmoud

Gohari from Dr. Pezeshkian's office calls.

Mohammad Jan, hello, where are you? He said, “We heard something and all that.”

I said, “I’m with the guys in the northwest.” He said, “Does this have anything to do with them?” I said, “Yes.”

He said, “Put me on speaker.” I put him on speaker. He said,

“I,

Mr. Gohari, I’m calling on behalf of Dr. Pezeshkian

to say, well done, guys. Keep up the good work.”

“May God grant you health. Our hearts are warmed by you.”

Mr. Gohari’s conversation and Dr. Pezeshkian’s message affected the guys so much

that until the very last day of the war, we never thought about the northwest again.

The next phase of the government’s attack was Dr. Pezeshkian’s own presence there.

They came there—

to Green Bridge. I saw them in the middle of that war, all that chaos,

walking along the sidewalk with Dr. Haji Mirzaei.

I went to welcome them and hugged them. Dr.

Pezeshkian’s first words were:

“I saw on TV that you’d bandaged your shoulder and arm.

I came to ask how you were. I’m the head of emergency services, okay?”

We're a service organization. In this vast,

sprawling government, we don't count at all. Our job is to serve.

When a country's president pays such close attention to details,

and personally walks around in wartime,

the first thing he says to me is this. God knows how much we appreciated

his unexpected presence, and by God, it was unexpected.

There was no coordination whatsoever. God is my witness.

I said to him, "Doctor, you're the president—" Why are you walking in the street

like this? Why are you walking around in the street like this? Sir, you're a country's president.

What if they shoot you?" He said, "What's the difference between me and those who were martyred?"

I said, "Truly, during the war, the government,

Dr. Haji Mirzaei, followed up on and supported us,

our necessities, our medicine, our funding, Dr.

Pourmohammadi, Dr. Zafarghandi's office, Mr.

Minister, every morning from seven thirty to eight.

Sometimes I'd say, "Man, I was out on the streets until six a.m. Let me sleep for an hour,

then call me." I returned to the office from Bid at two o'clock on the first day of the war.

And I was feeling awful.

I went to wash my face, splash some water on it, and come back.

My phone rang. It was Mr. Alavi from the Planning Organization.

Mr. Pourmohammadi's office. He said, "Hello, Doctor. Dr. Mohammadi wants to speak

with you."

He said, "Dear Tavakol, hello. How are you? What do you want, brother? Just tell me what

I should do." After all, what was his job? Protecting—

the budget, not giving it out.

No, because he really helped us a lot, honestly.

But for him to call me himself at two-thirty on the first day of the war

and ask what I wanted? I said, "As a first step, I need 60 billion tomans."

He said, "It'll be in your account tomorrow morning."

So the money was in your account the next day?

Exactly. Exactly. It continued until the end of the war.