Nooroddin, Son of Iran

Seyyed Nooroddin A’fi was born in 1964 (1343 SH) in the village of Kholajan near Tabriz. His family was large and worked in agriculture. During the Iranian Revolution, he took part in demonstrations and revolutionary activities. When the Iran–Iraq War began, he wanted to go to the front, but due to his young age he was not accepted. He tried repeatedly and eventually succeeded.

In the fall of 1980, he received military training and was deployed to western Iran, where he served with the Mahabad Corps. In 1981, he officially joined the Kurdistan Corps and remained there for fifteen months, though his mind was always set on joining the battlefields of southern Iran. When he eventually left for the Iran–Iraq War front, his younger brother Sadegh accompanied him. In an Iraqi airstrike, Sadegh was martyred before Nooroddin’s eyes. Twenty-four pieces of shrapnel struck Nooroddin, and he underwent multiple surgeries in hospitals in Kermanshah and Mashhad. Because of severe injuries to his abdomen, face, eyes, and nose, even with the surgeries he never fully recovered. He returned to Tabriz and, after six months, once again went back to the front.

During his leaves in Tabriz, he took part in religious and outreach activities and visited the families of martyrs and hospitalized veterans. After each short rest, he returned to the battlefield. He participated in many operations, including Muslem ibn Aqil, Karbala-4, and others, and was severely wounded multiple times. Although he was a 70% disabled veteran, he returned to the front after each partial recovery. At just eighteen, his face had been completely changed due to severe injuries and numerous surgeries. In 1984 (1363 SH), he became engaged to a sixteen-year-old girl named Ma’soumeh. They married in 1987, and in 1988 their first child, a daughter, was born. He also served as a diver in several major operations in the war zones. After the ceasefire and the end of the war, he traveled to Germany for treatment and underwent more surgeries, but at his own request, he returned to Iran earlier than planned. Nooroddin still lives with physical pain and the sorrow of losing his martyred friends, especially Amir Maralbash.