Contemporary Islamic thinker and scientist Dr. Mostafa Chamran

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On June 20, 1981 AD, contemporary Islamic thinker, scientist, and Iranian defence minister, Dr. Mostafa Chamran, was martyred by the invading Ba'thist forces at the age of 49 years while directing operations at the warfronts in Khuzestan, southwest Iran. He studied electronic engineering and obtained a PhD in this field from the US, where he was active in the in the struggle against the British-installed and American Pahlavi regime.
He left his prestigious job as a senior research staff scientist at Bell Laboratories and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to live in self-exile in Lebanon, where, while cooperating with the famous Iranian émigré religious leader, Imam Musa Sadr, he helped the deprived Lebanese people set up the Amal or Hope Movement to confront the state terrorism of the illegal Zionist entity.
Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, he returned to Iran and was in charge of organizing the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. He was elected to the parliament in March 1980, and subsequently appointed defence minister. When the US imposed the 8-year war on Iran through Saddam, he was named Imam Khomeini's representative to the Supreme Defence Council. As an experienced general he was actively involved in defence operations at the warfronts. On his martyrdom, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, hailed him for his selfless efforts.