Behind the Headlines/August 22

Jamshid Chalangi:

In tonight’s program we will talk to Mr Massoud Sarrasht (aka Shabahang) on the occasion of the publication of his memoirs.

Mr Saarasht served in Iran’s security forces during the pre-revolution time Iran and was involved in the secret fight against the armed underground opposition to the Shah’s regime.

In his book he has shed dome light on the activities of the revolutionary forces of the left and religious forces and how the Iranian security organs dealt with them.

Mr Sarrasht:

I was born into a military family and from an early age wanted to join the army. However I first applied for a job with the police force and got it.

This coincided with a rise in the activities of the armed opposition groups in Iran in the early 1970s as the murdered some top Iranian officials a US army personnel.

The 2500th anniversary of the Iranian monarchy was approaching and I was assigned to work with the secret police SAVAK to defuse the activities of those underground terrorist groups.

In the beginning we did not even carry any guns but as those groups heightened their hostilities with attacks on police stations we had to arm ourselves too, which was a matter of regret as we did not really wish to wage a war on our own citizens but they forced us into it.

They were even rubbing banks and stealing people’s money and claiming that they needed if for their cause.

It was sad to see so many of our educated young people were resorting to violence to change our government whereas behind the scene foreign enemies of Iran were manipulating them for their own objectives.

One clear example of this was that we knew the Gaddafi regime had given the Mujaheddin Khalgh and Fadayeen organisations half a million dollars to wage a war against the Shah’s regime.

More on these issues can be read in my book.