Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh

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Shahid

Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh
Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh.JPG
Portrait of Fahmideh in the Martyrs' Museum, Tehran
Native name
محمد حسین فهمیده
Born(1967-05-06)6 May 1967
Qom, Imperial State of Iran
Died30 October 1980(1980-10-30) (aged 13)
Khorramshahr, Islamic Republic of Iran
Buried
Behesht-e Zahra, Tehran
Allegiance Iran
Service/branch Basij
EngagementsIran–Iraq War
AwardsFath Medal.jpg Order of Fath (first-grade)

Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh (Persian: محمد حسین فهمیده;[1] (1967-05-06)6 May 1967 – (1980-10-30)30 October 1980) was an Iranian child soldier and an icon of the Iran–Iraq War. He is celebrated as a war hero in Iran.[2]

In September 1980, Iraq launched a full-scale invasion of Iran, sending five armoured and mechanized divisions across the Shatt al-Arab to attack the oil-rich Khuzestan Province in southern Iran, quickly seizing several towns in the area. By 10 November, Iraqi forces had captured the key city of Khorramshahr after a protracted battle with Iranian resistance.[3]

According to his official biography,[4] Fahmideh was a 13-year-old boy from Qom who, at the outbreak of the war in 1980,[5] left his home without his parents knowing to go to southern Iran and aid in the defence of Khorramshahr, then a city at the frontlines of the conflict.[6] In the besieged city of Khorramshahr, he fought side-by-side with older Iranian soldiers.[7] Fahmideh was amongst the Iranians who engaged in fierce house-to-house battles in which thousands of Iraqis and Iranians were killed.[3] At one point, Iraqi forces had pushed the Iranians back as they were passing through a very narrow canal. Due to a lack of RPG-7 rockets and the sensitive formation of the Iraqi tanks, Fahmideh, seeing that his older comrades were already dead or wounded,[8] wrapped himself in a grenade belt from a nearby corpse, pulled the pins out, and jumped underneath an advancing Iraqi tank, killing himself and disabling the tank.[9] This led the Iraqi tank column to believe that the Iranians had extensively mined the area, and ceased their advance. Later, Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran broadcast a breaking news story describing the incident.[10]

In Iran, Fahmideh's story inspired many Iranians during the war to risk death to protect the country, and has been heralded by leaders in Iran from Ruhollah Khomeini to Mohammad Khatami.[3] Khomeini declared Fahmideh to be an Iranian national hero,[11] and made references to him in several of his speeches:[3][8]

Our leader is that 13-years-old child who threw himself with his little heart against the enemy. He is worth more than a hundred pens and a hundred tongues.

Fahmideh is buried in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran in section 24, row 44, number 11.[10] A monument to him was erected on the outskirts of Tehran and has become a place of pilgrimage for young religious Iranians.[12][13] In the years following Fahmideh's death, murals have been erected throughout Iran, book bags displaying him were sold to children, and, in 1986, a postage stamp was issued in his memory.[14] Streets, hospitals, schools, and a sports stadium have been named in his honour.[3] The day of his death, October 30, marks the "Student Basij Day" in the official calendar of the Iranian state.[15]

Fahmideh was posthumously awarded the first-grade Order of Fath on 27 September 1989 after the Iran–Iraq War, becoming its first recipient.[16]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Persian pronunciation: [mohæmmæd hoˌsejne fæhmiːˈde]
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2004-12-16. Retrieved 2004-12-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e Davis, Joyce (2004). Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance, and Despair in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 49–50. ISBN 9781403966810.
  4. ^ "Put a stop to it". 8 October 2003.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2009-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ a b Mitchell, Jolyon (2012). Promoting peace, inciting violence : the role of religion and media. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 9780415557467.
  9. ^ "Fars News Agency :: Commander Stresses IRGC Readiness to Combat Enemy Troops in PG". web.archive.org. October 31, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31.
  10. ^ a b "شهادت دانش آموز بسیجی محمد حسین فهمیده".
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2009-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "The Times & The Sunday Times". www.thetimes.co.uk.
  13. ^ "Shahid Fahmideh". Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  14. ^ "Info" (PDF). web.mit.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  15. ^ [1][dead link]
  16. ^ [2][dead link]
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