History is less a graveyard of past events than a place where old questions continually return.
Every generation revisits the past in search of lessons and in an effort to better understand the road ahead.
Operation Mersad belongs to that category of historical events.
If we regard it merely as the final major military confrontation of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, we fail to grasp its wider significance.
Mersad is a lesson that must be read repeatedly, because even if an organization is
Iran’s political and social history in the 1960s and 1970s is marked by figures who devoted their lives to political activism and opposition to the Pahlavi monarchy. Among them were individuals whose influence extended beyond political thought into organization and grassroots mobilization.
Hojatoleslam Seyyed Reza Kamiab was one such figure. Born in the village of Nowdeh Mirmehrab near Gonabad, he rose from a rural religious upbringing to become an organizer of revolutionary activities and
Mohammad Reza Saadati, a senior member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), was arrested on April 26, 1979, while meeting Vladimir Fisenko, a Soviet contact. At the time of his arrest, investigators found a handwritten note concerning negotiations with the Soviet intermediary that contained requests for equipment and expertise associated with organized intelligence work.
Saadati was initially tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was later retried after Iranian authorities concluded that he
Why were armed groups operating along Iran’s eastern borders unable to carry out a significant operation during the latest war, despite what Iranian sources describe as extensive foreign financial, intelligence and logistical support?
The question may offer insight into a less visible dimension of Iran’s intelligence and counterterrorism operations during the conflict.
In the months following the outbreak of hostilities, reports attributed to U.S. sources circulated claims that, if accurate
Iranian analysts have long argued that proposals to fragment Iran along ethnic and regional lines have featured in strategic discussions in the United States and Israel as a means of weakening the Islamic Republic.
According to this interpretation, the latest conflict marked an attempt to move such concepts from strategic planning into practice, with armed separatist groups allegedly being used to create instability inside the country.
The argument is that partitioning Iran has for years been
In recent years, the Iranian nation has been the victim of one of the most complex and organized media and psychological projects; a project that, utilizing Persian-language networks affiliated with hostile governments and foreign psychological warfare rooms, has attempted through systematic disinformation, distortion of realities, extensive negative portrayal (with a pattern of "magnifying weaknesses and eliminating strengths"), promotion of violence, support for street riots and armed groups
In the contemporary world, children and adolescents are more exposed than ever to violence that is neither accidental nor individual, but organized, targeted, and structural. From terrorist operations and blind attacks against ordinary people to war, military aggression, and occupation, it is always the children who are the most defenseless victims of violence. They have no presence in the political decision-making arena, play no role in shaping wars and conflicts, but are the first to lose
Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, various terrorist and armed groups have carried out violent armed acts across the country, resulting in the martyrdom of 23,000 Iranian citizens. Of these, children under 12 number about 500. If we consider children as under 18 based on some definitions, this number rises to about 2,000.
This number is incredibly large and painful for any country and society. By any standard, the death of children—and this significant number in
The Head of the Center for Attorneys, Official Experts, and Family Advisors of the Judiciary stated: "The Islamic Republic of Iran, within the framework of its legitimate right to self-defense, is authorized to exercise effective sovereignty over its territorial waters and manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. blockade of this strait lacks legal legitimacy and constitutes 'maritime terrorism.'"
Hasan Abdollahianpour, Head of the Center for Attorneys, Official Experts, and Family
More than eleven weeks after the Minab school tragedy, U.S. officials continue to say the matter is "under review." In recent days, Trump has repeatedly echoed the phrase "it is being investigated," as if time itself is expected to draw a curtain over this American atrocity.
One week ago, the U.S. President — caught up in the frenzy of preparing for his trip to China — responded to a question about who was responsible for firing on the Minab school by saying the matter was under investigation
Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in February 1979, Iran has been continuously engaged in combating the activities of terrorist groups.
Throughout this period, terrorist groups with varying ideologies and agendas—backed by support from certain regional and extra-regional countries—have persistently sought to instill a climate of fear and insecurity in Iranian society through various acts of terror, including the assassination of officials and ordinary citizens, as well as sabotage of
The link between the Forqan Group — which assassinated Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari — and the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) terrorist organization has drawn attention in the accounts of several political activists. Some, pointing to similarities between the two, suggest that in the early days of the Islamic Revolution, the MEK preferred not to engage in overt terrorist activities and wished to maintain a moderate image. To that end, they argue, the organization used groups like Forqan as a cover.
In the mountains that have for years become an arena of security and ideological rivalries, a lesser-seen reality is repeating itself: the enforced disappearance of Iranian Kurdish citizens within the mechanisms of armed groups.
Data compiled by the Iranian Kurdistan Human Rights Watch, comprising more than 800 documented cases, indicates that this phenomenon is not an exception but a persistent pattern – a pattern that simultaneously challenges the fundamental rights of individuals, the
The recent session at the European Parliament, particularly within the framework of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which was held with the participation of individuals such as Abdollah Mohtadi (leader of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan's armed wing) and Mostafa Hijri (leader of the armed wing of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan), has instead of strengthening the human rights discourse, turned into a stage for an apparent contradiction between rhetoric and action in the
Mostafa Hijri, Secretary-General of the group known as the "Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan," delivered a speech on Iran on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at a session of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. Given that he and other similar factions consider themselves experts on Kurdish issues, examining his remarks at an institution like the European Parliament holds particular significance.
In his speech, Hijri, reviewing historical developments, claimed that the structure
As the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran intensifies, with schools and hospitals deliberately targeted and hundreds of civilians — including children — killed, a powerful wave of international solidarity has emerged. From Ireland to Bahrain, Egypt to Italy, prominent activists, former parliamentarians, academics, and writers have condemned the campaign as immoral, illegal, and barbaric. They denounce it as a war of extermination driven by imperial ambition and express unwavering support for Iran’s
As the scale of civilian suffering grows from the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran — including repeated strikes on schools and hospitals — a powerful chorus of outrage has erupted from Latin America and Europe. Antifascist movements, geopolitical researchers, and veteran journalists have branded the campaign as barbaric imperialism, deliberate genocide, and a desperate attempt by a declining Western order to cling to global domination. They warn that the targeting of children and civilian
Prominent human rights activists, former parliamentarians, and intellectuals from Bahrain, Iraq, and Lebanon have issued scathing condemnations of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, denouncing the deliberate bombing of schools and hospitals as war crimes, acts of genocide, and a profound moral collapse. They accuse Washington and Tel Aviv of systematically targeting civilians — especially children — in a campaign that violates every principle of international humanitarian law, and they
As evidence mounts of systematic attacks on schools, hospitals, and civilians during the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, a powerful wave of international condemnation has erupted. Politicians, activists, journalists, and academics from Ireland, Italy, and Iraq have denounced the campaign as barbaric, immoral, and a clear war of extermination. They accuse Washington and Tel Aviv of deliberately targeting children and civilian infrastructure in a desperate bid to break the Iranian people
As horrifying details emerge of deliberate strikes on schools and hospitals during the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, prominent parliamentarians, editors, and human rights advocates from Bahrain, Iraq, and Oman have issued blistering condemnations. They describe the bombing of a girls’ elementary school in Minab — killing nearly 180 children — and attacks on medical facilities as war crimes, acts of genocide, and a moral disgrace that exposes the barbarity of the aggressors. The statements
History is less a graveyard of past events than a place where old questions continually return.
Every generation revisits the past in search of lessons and in an effort to better understand the road ahead.
Operation Mersad belongs to that category of historical events.
If we regard it merely as the final major military confrontation of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, we fail to grasp its wider significance.
Mersad is a lesson that must be read repeatedly, because even if an organization is
