The Martyrdom of Asghar Vesali

In the month of Muharram, 1359 AHS, an important event took place. Asghar Vesali and Ali Qorbani came with their forces from Sarpol Dhahab to Gilan Gharb. It was decided that after scouting the enemy’s positions from the north side of the city, to start an operation. Those days were the first days after forming the Andarzgu Group. Some of the enemy’s positions were identified. On the night of Ashura everyone gathered in the Army Headquarters. A great mourning ceremony was held. Many remember Ibrahim’s reading of eulogies in that gathering. He read with an amazing passion, and Asghar Vesali was standing in the middle of the mourners. On the day of Ashura, Asghar and a few others went to the Barr Aftab region for reconnaissance. About noontime it was reported that they were fighting with some Iraqi forces that were in ambush. Additional forces made their way to them. The enemies retreated quickly too, but… Ali Qorbani had been martyred. There was no hope of Asghar surviving because of the severity of his injuries. We moved Asghar Vesali back from the front quickly, but he joined the other martyrs too. After Asghar’s martyrdom I saw Ibrahim who was crying loudly. He said, “No one knows what a Commander we have lost. Our revolution needed people like Asghar very much.”Asghar was martyred at noon on the day of Ashura, before the fortieth day after his brother’s martyrdom. Ibrahim came to Tehran for the funeral and brought Asghar’s Paykan car which had been left in Gilan Gharb. There were hardly any parts of his car which hadn’t been hit by shrapnel! After the funeral of the Martyr Vesali we quickly went back to the region. Ibrahim said, “Asghar saw his brother in a dream a few nights before his martyrdom. His brother had told him, “Asghar, you will be martyred on the day of Ashura in Gilan Gharb.” The next day the forces in the group held a mourning ceremony for Asghar. Then, they promised each other to stay in the front until the last drop of their blood and to take revenge for Asghar’s blood. Javad Afrasiabi and a few others said, “Just like other people who are in mourning, we will not trim our beards until we punish Saddam for his actions.”