After the 12-day war, it was rare to hear a story behind the scenes of the firing of missiles and drones by the homeland that landed in the heart of Tel Aviv. Of untold bravery; of stories that can be written in Shahnamehs and fill the history of Iran, of the stories of true heroes.
The story of the twin engineers of Kermanshahi; The martyrdom of IRGC Lieutenant Colonels Morteza and Mustafa Sharifinasb and the moments of their martyrdom are just two of the dozens of stories from the land of Iran that we listen to with bated breath.
It is by hearing these stories that we become convinced that if it were not for the courage and audacity of the soldiers behind General Hajizadeh in launching missiles and drones for the homeland, perhaps the 12-Day War would have turned out differently.
When the missiles flew at the same time as the twins were martyred
If Morteza Khari had stepped on his foot, Mustafa would have felt his pain. If Mustafa was well, Morteza would have smiled wherever he was. The twins also had telepathy in their martyrdom.
From Tehran, with the Kermanshahi accent of Reza Sharifinasb, the brother of the martyrs, we go to the city of Kurdish lion cubs and begin our story of the twin aerospace engineers of the Kermanshah IRGC from the last moments of their lives;
"After Iran decided to respond to the Israeli attack in the shortest possible time, Morteza, Mustafa, and 10 of the Kermanshah IRGC Aerospace Force knew that in order to carry out the operation in a situation where the Iranian sky was unsafe and reconnaissance drones could target them at any moment and prevent the launch of missiles and drones, the cost of launching missiles and drones through launchers might cost them their lives.
But our Iran is full of those who understood Hussein. I knew that passion and zeal that I had from my brothers, knowing that they could be martyred at any moment, while preparing the launchers for firing, they had also recited their martyrdom and muttered, "Sacrifice for the head of my leader!" These moments were narrated by their wounded comrades. In the end, the flight of the missiles became one with their own flight, and out of those 11, 5 of them became heavenly."
Israel was afraid of the aerospace kids and the students of General Hajizadeh, and still is afraid of the Iranian soldiers who have been fed milk. He knew very well what kind of zealous soldiers he was dealing with.
"Faezeh Salimi", the wife of Morteza Sharifinasb, recalls a memory from some time ago and says: "One night, Mr. Morteza was telling us with a laugh and saying that they had distributed the photo of me, Mustafa, and a few other children to groups affiliated with Israel and that they had written that they had put up a million-dollar reward for killing these Iranian aerospace forces. They don't know that we have no qualms about martyrdom, that we will go to meet him.
I asked. I got worried. But Mr. Morteza said that life is in the hands of God. Don't worry, madam! We will be the masters of our lives until the last moment of our lives. It was really like that, Mr. Morteza and Mr. Mustafa fought until the last moment of their lives. Even though a garrison had set up a few meters away from them, they did not leave the field and stayed until their last breath. On the day of Eid al-Ghadir, Morteza was martyred like Mullah Ali (AS). The shrapnel pierced his head. But Mustafa was taken to the hospital. Mustafa was born two hours later than Morteza. He was martyred two hours later than him. It was as if God had arranged the lives of these two twin brothers to be equal, even in hours and seconds.”
Birth in the bombing of Kermanshah
How did the Kermanshah twin brothers become a thorn in Israel’s side? We tell the story of Morteza and Mustafa from the last scene. The words of the brother and wife of Morteza Sharifinasab, who are related to the setting of the hours and seconds of their lives, flash back to 35 years ago, to the Iran-Iraq war and the heavy shadow of the bombings of Kermanshah, and we resume the narrative from the words of the martyrs' brother and from the delivery room of one of the cities of Kermanshah;
"In those years, there was no ultrasound and prenatal gender determination, or if there was, there was no such equipment in the peripheral areas of Kermanshah. We did not know that my mother was pregnant with twins. We went to the hospital when she started having pain. Morteza was born and the mother's pain had not yet ended and her belly was still protruding when God announced the second blessing, and the midwife's voice in the delivery room was distorted when she said there was another one. The children are twins. Two hours after Morteza, Mustafa was born. Two twin brothers with white faces like the crescent moon who did not mix with each other.
In 1965, I was 15 years old when the twins were born. Dad was always at work and away from the city. I was the eldest son of the family and in a way I was the father of the children. Most of their responsibilities were with me. School registration and following up on all the twins' work. It was the post-war era and the economic problems after the war. In short, we looked at each other and the children went to school. They got their diplomas with high GPA. They were studious and top of the class in math. It so happened that both of them were accepted to study mechanical engineering and solid design at Ahvaz University and at this point in their lives they were also outstanding and graduated from the university with an A grade.”
Production line engineering in a factory or joining the soldiers of Sardar Hajizadeh!
There was a lot of work for the mechanical engineer twins. But the bachelor's degree had not yet dried when they made up their mind to be sent to military service. They had been serving for a few months when the path of their lives changed; They decided to use their intelligence and knowledge in the service of their homeland, and the story of the beginning of the ups and downs of the journey, full of goodness and blessings, can be heard from the brother's lips;
"They had been serving for a few months when, considering the twins' high intelligence, education, and their status as guardians, they offered them the opportunity to join the IRGC Aerospace Force and continue their studies at Imam Hussein University. At that time, I told them, in accordance with the duty I was in charge of and being their older brother, "Have you thought about it? Your path is not an easy one. It is difficult. Your responsibility will be multiplied many times over. I even invited them to go to a factory whose boss had requested that the twins become production line engineers with high salaries and benefits. I took the children to the factory. But they didn't want to. They had chosen their path. Both of them together. In fact, every decision they made was a decision for the two of them. They had agreed to build their lives together and move forward. Both majored in mathematics and physics, and then in a different major, in a different university. They consulted as a couple to join the IRGC Aerospace Force and made their decision."
Kermanshah UAV Elites
The beginning of a path full of ups and downs for construction, for the pride of Iran. The identical twins from Kermanshah soon became one of the elites of the Kermanshah IRGC aerospace force. Their older brother remembers those days very well; “Participating in different courses and gaining experience meant that we saw the twins less often. They were so absorbed in their service that they were not at home much. They worked with all their heart. They didn’t talk to us much about their work. They didn’t give us any information, but we more or less understood that Morteza and Mostafa had used their intelligence and knowledge to serve the development of the aerospace industry and the advancement of Iran’s UAVs.”
The Leader’s words should not be left unspoken
“Morteza and Mostafa worked day and night. They never complained about the difficulty of the work. Some days when they came home, I would see their hands cut and bruised. The aerospace kids work like Basijis and in teams. They also did heavy manual work. It wasn’t like they said, for example, because I have such and such a degree or am an engineer, I shouldn’t move equipment. Whenever I would say to one of them, doesn’t this amount of work tire you out? Don’t you give yourself a break? They would say, “The words of the Holy Prophet should not remain unfulfilled.” We must become strong. We must progress every day.
We still don’t know what kind of strength God gave these kids that fatigue meant nothing to them. After the martyrdom, when we got to know their colleagues better, we saw that all of these kids were the same. Sincere, sincere, hardworking, provincial.
It is this Basij spirit and commitment of the IRGC aerospace guys that, under the strong management of General Martyr Hajizadeh, has made Iran one of the powerful countries in the field of developing the drone industry, so much so that many countries that have something to say in the field of military equipment are requesting Iranian drones. The undemanding and hardworking aerospace guys are building advanced drones at the lowest cost and upgrading previous drones.”
I stayed 8 hours overtime, but I turned down 3 hours
The stories of the martyr’s brother that come to the undemanding and hardworking of aerospace workers remind me of the words of the martyr’s wife; when she said that Mr. Morteza worked too much. Sometimes he worked 8 hours overtime, but when he came home and felt tired, he would say, “I stayed 8 hours today, but I turned down 3 hours of overtime.” I asked why? He said, "I didn't work for those 8 hours. I prayed. I talked to you. This way, I feel more at ease."
A stone in the fight against ISIS
It had not been a few years since the twin brothers joined the aerospace force when ISIS attacked the Two Holy Mosques. The engineers did their best in the fight against ISIS and in defending the shrine. The older brother says of those days; "Morteza and Mustafa went to Iraq and Syria of their own free will to help defeat ISIS alongside the Quds Force forces and in a situation where ISIS had taken control of the region. Each of them was in Iraq for more than 500 days and, together with General Soleimani, they spared no effort to reduce the evil of ISIS in the region."
Mother's reaction after hearing about the simultaneous martyrdom of twins
It's hard to stand behind glass and watch the doctors' futile efforts to bring your brother back to life, the Sharifi-Nasab family lost two loved ones on the first day of the war in the defense of the homeland; twin children two hours apart; two young Rana.
They were left in the hospital that day, wondering how to tell their mother about Mustafa's martyrdom. She had just learned that Morteza was no more. Now how to tell her that meeting Mustafa had gone to the afterlife! But it seems that when God passes martyrdom on to his family, patience in the face of pain is also wrapped up in a gift and presented to his loved ones. Like the father and the snake of the twins.
When we hear the reaction of the mother of the Sharifi-Nasab martyrs upon hearing the news of the martyrdom of her children, we are reminded of this unwritten rule; "My mother would have gone crazy if she had followed Murtaza and Mustafa. She loved them so much that she was madly in love with them. But that day in the hospital, when she heard the news of Murtaza and Mustafa's martyrdom, she cried and said, "For the sake of Imam Hussein's (AS) head, O God, make them guests at the table of the Ahlul Bayt today!" We were just looking at them during the Hajj and Waj. My parents comforted me and the sisters and wives of the martyrs. Murtaza has a 5-year-old daughter and Mustafa has two children, a few months old and a 5-year-old.