April 21, 2006: Iran Suicide Bomber Squad Chief Discusses Organization, Training, Targets

Tehran -- On the left, there was a poster bearing a picture of the last message delivered by a Palestinian suicide bomber and a photo of his head lying in a pool of blood; on the right, a screen was blaring out a speech by President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad against a background of dated but bloody fighting on the Iraqi front; and all around, there were portrait photographs of more or less well known Palestinian boys and girls who have sacrificed their lives to slaughter Israelis. Inside, a few curious bearded youths approached, asking for information and then leaving, voicing their gratitude. The "martyrs' shop," as a sign that my interpreter literally translated put it, was located inside the old embassy of the Great Satan (former US Embassy in Tehran) itself.

A major exhibit on Palestine was being held in the gardens of the huge building that became a prison for US hostages 25 years ago and that was later turned into the Pasdaran headquarters. It was the ideal place to set up a stand devoted to suicide attacks and to martyrdom in the name of Islam. Mohammad Samadi, the brains behind Iran's militant suicide bombers and their spokesman, could not afford to miss a "trade fair" as good as this one. Standing behind a counter carpeted with pictures of bodies and of blood, he was handing out advice, instructions, brochures, and reports. After all, this 29-year-old journalist is the founder and spokesman of the Iranian "Department for the Commemoration of World Martyrs."

Do not be deceived, these commemorations and souvenirs are old hat, as Mohammad explained, mere hangovers from the past. "Two years ago when we were gathering the first signatures of youngsters ready for martyrdom to hound the Americans out of the holy places of Karbala and of al-Najaf, the initiative was merely symbolic. But there were really very many volunteers and so," Mohammad explained, "we set up a full fledged organization to gather together and offer serious professional training to all those who want to sacrifice their lives on the Palestinian front, on the Iraqi front, or even to take part in the killing of author Salman Rushdie. But in the event of US (military) intervention (in Iran), we will swing into action here too."

There was no dearth of curious and interested onlookers. While Mohammad was busy with his explanations, about a dozen kids carrying university text books under their arms came up to the stand and asked for clarification. They were given a form on which to leave their phone number and e-mail address pending a call from the recruitment center. "The recruitment process is really very simple. After getting in touch with them to find out whether they really do feel ready to join us, we subject them to a series of political, ideological, and behavioral tests. If they pass those tests, then we call them up for their training proper. To date we have had 55,000 people join us and we have completed the training of 1,000 volunteers split into three battalions." A photograph of the first battalion with its 300 youngsters clad in white from head to toe, their hands raised in a victory salute, held pride of place on the wall of one of the "martyrs' shop" rooms. The group was inevitably dedicated to the memory of Engineer Yah'ya Ay'ash, the trainer of the first Hamas suicide bombers who was beheaded by an Israeli bomb concealed inside his cell phone back in January 1996. Each of those 300 youths with a suicide bomber's diploma in his pocket has been slogging away for at least three months, dividing his time between theoretical courses, tough physical training, learning to wear the various types of explosive vests, and finally learning the techniques needed to get as close to the target as possible without being identified.

"Some 90 percent of our volunteers are aged between 18 and 25, but that does not mean that that is the best age; for some operations it would be better to have men aged 50 because they are more inconspicuous... but we also have many women and we are very satisfied with them because they seem to be more highly motivated than many of the men."

Mohammad became more reticent and enigmatic when I asked him whether any of his 1,000 patented and certified volunteers has already given his life for the cause. "As I was saying, the symbolic phase lasted only a few months; today we are already in the active phase, but unlike Hamas or the Islamic Jihad, we are not committed to a declared conflict... We cannot divulge classified information regarding our activities; we have no official government backing, and in view of the situation we cannot ask for help which would be tantamount to a declaration of war."

A month ago the aspiring martyrs' website actually did publish an appeal to Iran's leaders asking for authorization to enter Iraq and to strike at the Americans. But immediately after that, the site became inaccessible.

Pending authorization, the only martyr acknowledged hitherto and whose existence anyone will admit to is a friend of Mohammad's who departed for Iraq two years ago and never came home. "His was a personal initiative; he wanted to fight for Karbala and he labored until he found the martyrdom to which he so aspired, but his sacrifice has nothing to do with our organization's activity."

Mohammad calls himself an optimist and he is certain that he will succeed sooner or later in following in the footsteps of his comrade in faith who fell in Karbala. "When the situation leaves no other choice, a Muslim cannot but aspire to martyrdom; Muslims today are being attacked by the Americans and by the Israelis using all the technology and the most powerful weapons; we are forced to turn ourselves into smart bombs and to infiltrate the enemy in order to strike at him with precision and with determination."

Then Mohammad looked at me, thought for a moment, and finally confessed: "You know, come to think about it, I really should not be talking with you. You are an Italian and your government has sent troops to occupy Iraq. So you are not only my enemy, you are also a potential target."

(Description of Source: Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian -- right-of-center daily owned by the Berlusconi family)