A Message for Ayatollah Milani
After the bloody incident at Feyziyeh Seminary on March 22nd, 1963, before Muharram, Imam Khomeyni “sent letters to the scholars of different cities and invited them to participate in the uprising against Shah’s Regime [in the month of Muharram].
This time, Sayyed Ali Khamenei was supposed to take Imam’s letter to the scholars of Mashhad. The verbal messages of Ayatollah Khomeyni were taken by trustworthy individuals. “Imam asked me to go to Mashhad to take a message for Ayatollahs Milani and Qommi and another message for the rest of the scholars of Mashhad. The message of Imam for the scholars of Mashhad was to get ready to confront Zionism, it is taking over the country; Israel has dominated over all the affairs; the economy is in their hands; politics is in their hands. The message he gave to Ayatollahs Milani and Qommi was to tell the lecturers to start eulogies for Feyziyeh, and for the groups of reciters to start it on the ninth of Muharram.”
Imam had asked for the messages to be private, not publicized. They also must be informed of the message to the scholars of Mashhad. The classes were off on May 15, 1963; the scholars who were supposed to leave Qom to deliver the letters and get ready for departure. It was told to the preachers to talk about the harm that is threatening Islam; people should not engage in taqiyya (precautionary denial of religious belief) anymore. Tell people about what happened at Feyziyeh Seminary; to tell about the unfaithfulness of the Shah, to tell people to be ready for the verdicts of scholars.
Sayyed Ali Khamenei left Qom in mid-May 1963, for his hometown. When he arrived in Mashhad, “I gave the message to the scholars of Mashhad. The only person who truly got the message and understood the situation was the late Ayatollah Mojtaba Qazvini. He was a revolutionary man who loved Imam Khomeyni. I carried the second message to Ayatollahs Milani and Qommi as well. Ayatollah Milani’s opinion was to start the eulogies for Feyziyeh Seminary from the ninth of Muharram. I said the seventh is better because the ninth of Muharram is more for recitations and people are less at the lectures; the lecturers should make people ready from days before. Ayatollah Qommi accepted.
Propagational Trip to Birjand
Sayyed Khamenei headed for Birjand on May 26, the second day of Muharram, after finishing his mission and settled in the Islamic Seminary of Ma’soumieh (related to Amir Ma’soum Khan). This was the third time he was taking a trip to Birjand. In the two previous trips, his spiritual host was Shaykh Mohammad-Hoseyn Ayati, one of the great scholars of Khorasan, and even Iran. He was professional in poems and literature other than high levels of knowledge; he had plenty of verve.
In that year, Agha Ayati had gone to Mashhad for eye treatment. This time Sayyed Khamenei went to Sayyed Hasan Tahami. Agha Tahami was an outstanding scholar whose true dignity was concealed due to staying in Birjand. He grew up in the Islamic Seminary of Najaf and was one of the students of Agha Zia Iraqi and Mirza Na’ini; he was a mujtahid and very aware of literature, culture, and international affairs. “Agha Tahami was not indifferent to me… it was necessary for one to support me. I wanted to create an uproar. I said I want to do something… I need your help. He welcomed me. I said that I want to narrate the incidents at Feyziyeh Seminary; surely the regime will react… Please help me. He thought for a while… He said why do you have to do this here? I said that it is my duty… It is not only my duty; I think I told him that this will be done all over the country.”
Maybe Agha Tahami made a precaution saying that the people of Birjand already know the issues. He suggested that Sayyed Khamenei go somewhere else, a place where the people do not know about the incidents of Feyziyeh Seminary; go to Saravan. What a suggestion and what a precaution was that? Saravan in Balouchestan, near the border with Pakistan, a thousand kilometers away from Birjand… “I was affected… I went out.”
Lecture at Mosalla Mosque
Despite the warning given to the gendarmeries, Sayyed Ali Khamenei was able to give lectures in houses, mosques, and husayniyyah’s of Birjand until the seventh of Muharram for the people. He had decided to narrate the incidents of Feyziyeh Seminary on the seventh of Muharram in his lectures as suggested by Imam Khomeyni. Until that day he had given lectures in the houses of Shemshadi, Hadavi, Malakouti, and Niazi. His turn for the seventh of Muharram was the Mosalla Mosque, maybe the most important mosque of the city. The seventh of Muharram “was a Friday. It was the best opportunity for the task. I did not say anything to anyone…. Until the promised day.”
Sayyed Khamenei shared his decision with two others so that they can help him. One with the reciter, Andalib, and the other with the scholar who was going to give a lecture before him. Andalib’s response was positive; more than that, he was even excited and prayed for him, but the scholar whom he asked to shorten his lecture and give him more time, continued his words until twenty minutes to the adhan of maghrib. “I was stressed about the time. I went to the pulpit so that he can see me and come down. When I sat on the pulpit I was thrilling. I had a very vibrant personality at those times.”
Sayyed Khamenei gave a short lecture and then talked about the dominance of the west and its hegemony. He said that the main and everlasting obstacle to Islam is the West; the west does whatever it can to weaken it and to eliminate it. After five minutes, he got to the incidents of Feyziyeh Seminary; he continues his words on this topic when he heard the cries and laments of those present very loudly. “People cried so much… that I had never seen people crying this much at my lectures… I narrated what I had heard and witnessed… there was an uproar. Then I recited some eulogies for Karbala [briefly]. People were not considering the tragedy of Karbala… this tragedy has overcome that tragedy... Then I realized how deep, wise and foreseeing the Imam was in measuring the fact that nothing can beat the regime like Muharram.”
When he came down from the pulpit, everyone gathered around him. The words had sunk into their hearts. Outside the Mosque when he looked behind, he saw the youth following him, showing their love towards him. “I didn’t think that it would reflect [this much] among people.”
Lecturing in Agha Sadesi’s House
He gave a lecture on the morning of the eighth of Muharram in the house of one of the famous people of Birjand (Agha Sadesi); he informed the people, like his words in Mosque Mosalla. “There was also an uproar due to the cries of people… I came out of the session; I thought of going to the house of Agha Tahami… I had no choice. I needed someone to support me… so that I can continue the job. Moreover, I realized that it might be a disrespect to him.” Agha Tahami was not home; he returned. He saw him in the alley going towards his house.
Outside the house, on his way to school, he saw the gendarmerie agents who had come to arrest him. Before this, he had realized the agents who were looking after him when he entered Birjand. However, either the gendarmerie of Birjand was not able to distinguish the content of the lectures, or they moved a bit late that they allowed Sayyed Ali Khamenei to give lectures for seven days at many places.
At that time, the Birjandi friends came for intermediation and asked the head of the gendarmerie who had come with a few agents to arrest Sayyed Ali Khamenei to go to Agha Tahami. They said that he wants to talk to them. They were able to get the danger of arresting Sayyed Khamenei away from him. His next lecture was in Raghebi Husayniyyah.
His Arrest
After the lecture, the gendarmerie of Birjand realized that they did not have to accept the intermediation of people for not arresting Sayyed Khamenei.
Captain Saremi, the head of the gendarmerie of Birjand believed that: “The words of Sayyed Khamenei were provocative; especially the continuation of his lectures might cause disorder and bad happenings. According to received regulations, such individuals should be handed over to SAVAK.”
Captain Saremi, the head of the gendarmerie of Birjand who was elevated later and once became the head of police station number one of Mashhad was a polite young man; he treated Sayyed Ali Khamenei respectfully. He asked for his details and wrote them down. After the integration, they took Sayyed Khamenei to another room and prisoned him. He spent the Eve of Ashura in the yard of the gendarmerie; on the bed, under the navy blue ceiling of the sky.
Conditional Release
On the Day of Ashura, he realized a lot of commuting in the gendarmerie. Among them, he recognized Agha Sadesi; the one in whose house he gave lectures and delivered the incidents of Feyziyeh Seminary to the audience.
Agha Sadesi intermediated and the gendarmerie accepted to release Sayyed Khamenei, with the condition that he does not give lectures anymore. Sadesi gave the guarantee. Sayyed Khamenei was in the house of Agha Sadesi at noontime on the Day of Ashura. He respected his guarantee for the gendarmerie; he attended the sessions until the twelfth of Muharram, but as a listener.
It was assumed that the police authorities of the city were insisting on sending him to Mashhad as soon as possible. They took Sayyed Khamenei to the gendarmerie; they headed him towards Mashhad along with two gendarmes and a soldier in a Jeep. The SAVAK of Khorasan was waiting for the arrival of the reason for all the uproars in Birjand to Mashhad.
On June 5, concurrent with arresting Imam Khomeyni, the army soldiers came to Mashhad with Army cars; some gendarmes were passing through the alleys with horses. The bazaar was closed. Agha Qommi was arrested in Goharshad Mosque on the same day and moved to Tehran. The protests against the arrest of Agha Qommi were suppressed. All the lecturers and scholars who had given lectures against the regime were arrested. On June 6, Ayatollah Milani headed towards Tehran in objection to the Actions of the regime. They returned the airplane he was coming in the middle of the way. The city of Mashhad was facing extraordinary circumstances. The jails were full. They had opened a place in the garrison of the 12th Division for the arrested. One of them was Sayyed Ali Khamenei.
They went to hand in the prisoner to the gendarmerie. It was crowded. There was no space. They sent them to one of the police stations in Mashhad. He spent the night in the yard of the police station towards the sky. After the morning prayers when the sun was in the sky, the police station was deserted. An old man, whose degree was deputy one[GS1] , brought him breakfast and tea. “I ate a deluxe breakfast there.”
The Army Prison
In the morning, they took Sayyed Khamenei to the head of the 12th Division; they made him wait at the end of the corridor of the office. The next place was the prison of the Army. They arrived there at around four in the afternoon. Until then, “prison” was just a name for Sayyed Ali Khamenei; he had not seen it, nor had he heard about it. They took him to a room where a young officer was sitting; how impolite he was. They took away from him whatever he had. “I asked them to let me keep the Quran with me. They accepted. I also asked to keep my watch; they accepted.” They agreed to let him keep his notebook which he had with him on his trips.
Forced Labour
He was about to take a rest in the morning after his prayers when he heard a soldier from behind the door with an accent from the villages in the suburbs of Qaen saying: You must deal with forced labor. When he entered the corridor of the prison, he saw the other prisoners standing as well; about twelve people. He was the last person. He recognized the person in front of him, “Faker.” Hujjat al-Islam Mohammad-Reza Faker turned towards him and said “salam.” He replied and calmed down since he found someone, he knew in this storeroom which is an alternative for a prison. They took the prisoners to the yards of the garrison. They showed them the grass in the yard and asked them to dig. Many soldiers were guarding with guns around them.
Amir-Parviz Pouyan was among the arrested too. At that time, his Islamic thoughts had taken him to the garrison. Seven years later, he was one of the founders of the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas.
Interrogation
Two days later, they took him to the headquarters of SAVAK. First, they fingerprinted. Before that, they had taken a picture of him having number 731 on his chest. Then they filled out 27 details in the paper of his fingerprints regarding his personal details, place of residence in Qom and Mashhad, the color of his face, hair, beard, mustache, and any special habits (such as smoking). At 9:30, June 12, SAVAK started its written interrogation from Sayyed Ali Khamenei; this was the first political interrogation of the security forces from him.
On June 15, when SAVAK had finished with him, the 12th Division of Khorasan announced: “Non-military, Sayyed Ali, son of Javad, known as Khamenei… should be released without any conditions.” But they kept him a few more days in the garrison until the news of the release of all prisoners was announced. Sayyed Ali headed towards his father’s house while his face was disturbed; He did not have a beard. Meeting the son after tremendous dangers that he had passed was a blessing that the change of his face was not evident so much compared to it.
Meeting with Ayatollah Milani
After his release from the army prison, Ayatollah Milani went to visit Sayyed Khamenei. After a few days, Sayyed Khamenei went back to visit him in return.
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