Have You Given Any Martyrs?

The Committee to Honor the Martyrs of the World Islamic Movement ( Setade Pasdasht Shohadaye Nehzate Jahani Islam ) was created in 2003 with the purpose of opposing efforts to change the name of Khaled Islamboli street in Tehran ( Khaled Islamboli is the name of the assassin who killed Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and who is viewed as a hero by the establishment). But the street name was eventually changed to Intifada to allay the concerns of such groups. Two years later the Committee began registering names for martyr brigades whose members viewed themselves to be tasked to launch martyr operations against the occupiers in Iraq, Israel, assassinate British novelist Salman Rushdie whose death sentence was passed by ayatollah Khomeini. Till today, however no reports about any such operations have been published and the group appears only to have met a number of times to register names for volunteer martyrs. Mohammad Ali Samadi is the spokesperson of the group who spoke with Rooz about the Committee’s activities and views.

Samadi: Who does Rooz belong to? I will not speak with a site if I do not know who it belongs to. You must give me an exact address.

Rooz: Rooz is the same as RoozOnline and its office is in France. It does not belong to anyone and I am its reporter.

Samadi: Ok, I know RoozOnline. What have you come after me?

Rooz: I have a few questions.

Samadi: Ask me.

Rooz: Esteshhadiyoon martyr brigades were much in the news in 2005 and 2006. You registered thousands of people for martyr operations, among other things. But there has been no news of them recently. Why the silence?

Samadi: We are not quiet. Our activities have reduced. We now do different things with the same people. Our policy makers have determined that we no pursue those events.

Rooz: So you are not accepting members?

Samadi: Yes, we do.

Rooz: Then why do you not announce public notices for registering members?

Samadi: We longer work in that fashion.

Rooz: Why not?

Samadi: We ran short on the responses.

Rooz: Are you still active in the three key areas of the past: Martyr operations against Israel and Salman Rushdie?

Samadi: We cannot publicly announce whether we are engaged in these activities or not.

Rooz: But have you had any specific operations to attain your goals?

Samadi: Do you really believe that I will report what I have done to RoozOnline in France?

Rooz: What report? I am a journalist and have contacted you for an interview and you have accepted the interview.

Samadi: I am not that naïve. If I have done anything I don’t have to report to you, a counter-revolutionary.

Rooz: I am not a counter-revolutionary. I am a reporter.

Samadi: Whether you are a counter-revolutionary or not is not my concern. I am not accusing you. From my perspective RoozOnline is counter-revolutionary. So you expect me to report to you that I have acted against Zionism and the US? It is clear that I will not do this.

Rooz: I am a reporter and so ask questions, and you do not have to respond. If you don’t want to be interviewed I will hang up.

Samadi: Death to Israel and the US. Ask me.

Rooz: Where do you get your financial needs from? The government?

Samadi: It would be an honor for the Islamic republic to spend money on us, and our privilege to have done something from funds from the Islamic republic. If there is something, we will not hide it. The duty of the Islamic republic is to fight Zionism and Israel. If the Islamic republic has spent money us, we will hold our head up and will announce it. But this is not something that one will publicly announce.

Rooz: Do you pay to your forces?

Samadi: No. Pay for what? A volunteer who is ready to give up his life is also ready to give as much (money) as he can.

Rooz: What are the ways in which you support Palestinians and combat Israel?

Samadi: I whatever way we can.

Rooz: You have registered martyr volunteers. What else have you done in this respect?

Samadi: Whatever we have described.

Rooz: Have you executed any martyr operations?

Samadi: That is none of your business.

Rooz: I am asking you a question.

Samadi: You seem to have come to believe that if someone tells you that something is not your business that person is cursing you. If I have, I will not tell anyone about it.

Rooz: So have you done anything towards your goal against Israel, the US and Salman Rushdie?

Samadi: Yes.

Rooz: Do you mean suicide operations?

Samadi: I hope God accepts them. We have done some things.

Rooz: Have you also had any martyrs?

Samadi: That is not your business.

Rooz: Can you have suicide operations without martyrs?

Samadi: Not if God wants.

Rooz: Is your group also active in domestic policies, such as the elections?

Samadi: Generally our operations are beyond governments. It does not matter to us who the person is and with whom he is affiliated. We do our job.

Rooz: Do you mean that regardless of the government or who the president is, you will continue your work?

Samadi: Yes, it does not matter to us. Our work is in line with the high level policies of the state and the government is only one part of this.

Rooz: Do you coordinate your work with such organizations as the Revolutionary Guards’ Ghods Force which is responsible for foreign operations?

Samadi: No, nothing to do with us.

Rooz: Does your work not crisscross with theirs?

Samadi: That is none of your business. I do not mean to insult you, but this is the response.

Rooz: How about cooperation with groups inside other Islamic countries, groups that also engage in suicide operations?

Samadi: We have no organizational relationship with them.

Rooz: What kind do you have?

Samadi: Mostly cultural exchanges.

Rooz: How so?

Samadi: None of your business.

Rooz: Looks like I have to remind you of the interview that we agreed on.

Samadi: Listen. If you want me to talk, then listen. I have no intentions of talking with media like yours. I thought you said you had questions, then you came forward and put me into a trap and made me talk with you.

Rooz: If you do not announce your activities to the media could mean that you have now turned into a secret organization?

Samadi: So you mean anything that is not in the media is secret? So if I do not broadcast what we do every day to the media then we are a secret organization?

Rooz: But even the official media of the Islamic republic does not publish anything about you.

Samadi; Are you sure?

Rooz: Who is the leader of the suicide brigades of your organization?

Samadi: The very authorities who were there in the beginning: nothing has changed.

Rooz: Do you also train your volunteers?

Samadi: Yes, most of the training is theoretical.

Rooz: Such as what?

Samadi: The meaning of religious decrees calling for martyrdom and when they become a duty. We also teach Arabic, Hebrew and English. Then we also provide some operational training. Generally, suicide operations do not require much training.

Rooz: Do you also train your volunteers on how to implement operations?

Samadi: Yes.

Rooz: Are you willing to blow yourself up for a goal?

Samadi: I would like to think so.

Rooz: So this is not just a claim?

Samadi: As I said, I would like to be able to do this.

Rooz: Do you think you will be a martyr one day?

Samadi: I dream of being martyred.

Rooz: Have you not had this opportunity in recent years?

Samadi: What do you mean?

Rooz: I mean there was the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, or other places where Israel and the US is battling Muslims. Were the conditions not there for you and your group to attain your goal?

Samadi: What do you mean? I do not understand.

Rooz: I am pretty clear. What else must Israel and the US do for you to embark on suicide missions? Have killed even a single Israeli? Have you had a single martyr?

Samadi: This is none of your business.  You keep repeating and asking the same question.

Rooz: That is because you are not responding.

Samadi: It is none of your business.

Rooz: Generally political, social and even military or para-military groups announce their activities to the media. You on one hand want to give interviews but do not wish to respond to questions.

Samadi: I have explained a lot. We do not have a propaganda or publicity perspective on our activities. We do media work in the beginning. But now do not see its need. I am not insulting you when I say something is not your business.

Rooz: Are suicide operations not the same as terrorist operations?

Samadi: No.

Rooz: What is the difference?

Samadi: I do not have to explain that. Those who have created a religious duty for me must explain this. If you believe in religion, which I doubt, you would ask them. We have acquired our reasons from them. It is you who is saying that suicide martyr operations are terrorist operations.

Rooz: I am only asking you.

Samadi: This is a common question. From ancient times whenever a person who has been subjected to cruelty engaged in any action, they would call it terrorism. I don’t have the energy to defend my beliefs. It is no longer important to me. The foundations of our thoughts and beliefs are very different.

Rooz: So you believe that martyr driven suicide operations are not terroristic in nature?

Samadi: If a Palestinian kills an Israeli, he will in any way be labeled a terrorist, even if the Israeli is pressing his boot on the Palestinian’s wife. The Palestinian would still be labeled a terrorist. If you throw a two-ton bomb on the house of a Palestinian and kill tens of women, men and children, it will be labeled a just war and self defense, but if a Muslim or a Palestinian tries to defend himself or his country with the only tool he has available to him, he will be labeled a terrorist. Every person must do what he thinks is right.

Rooz: Groups such as Al-Qaeda too call their operations and missions martyrdom. What the difference between these groups and yours?

Samadi: They are Salafi and Wahabi fundamentalists. We are defending against foreign invasion in our Islamic countries. This country can be Iran, Palestine or Afghanistan. But Al-Qaeda kills people in New York, Britain and Madrid. Killing non0military people is not part of our beliefs.

Rooz: Why are you so sensitive about Iraqi Muslims and Palestinians but when it comes to Chechen Muslims and those in China there is no news about support for them?

Samadi: A Muslim is a Muslim. If injustice and cruelty are imposed on a Muslim he must be defended.  But Palestine is the center of the battle between Muslims and anti-Islam invaders. We do not have enough energy to be in all Muslim countries. We believe that if the Palestinian issue is resolved the way the Muslim world desires, all other problems of Muslims will also be solved.

Rooz: When will you go to fight against Israel?

Samadi: Personally?

Rooz: You and your group.

Samadi: This is none of your business too.