Order of Fath

The Fath Medal (Persian: نشان فتح‎, meaning Conquer Medal) is a military award of the Iranian armed forces which is awarded by Commander-in-chief, Supreme Leader of Iran.[1] The medal is the likeness of three Palm leaves over Khorramshahr's grand mosque (as a symbol of resistance), Flag of Iran and the word "Fath".[1]

Fath Medal

All grades of Order of Fath
TypeDecoration
Country Iran
Presented byCommander-in-chief Supreme Leader of Iran
StatusCurrently awarded
First awardedSeptember 27, 1989[1]

Ribbon of the medal
Precedence
EquivalentFath grade 1
Fath grade 2
Fath grade 3

The medal is awarded in three grades, typically based on the rank of the recipient.[2]

Recipients

According to Owain Raw-Rees, who specialises in awards of the Arab world,[3] the medal is awarded in three grades. Senior commanders are typically awarded a first class medal, Colonels and Brigadiers usually receive a second class award, while third class awards are granted to those ranked at or below Lieutenant Colonel.[2] However, these guidelines are not applied strictly.

The first recipient of the Order of Fath, First Class, was Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh, one of three to receive the honour on September 27, 1989.[4] Fahmideh's award was posthumous as he was killed in November 1980 when, as a 13-year-old boy, he was fighting in the Iran–Iraq War. He disabled an Iraqi tank by jumping under it while wearing a belt of grenades from which he had removed the pins.[5][6] In so doing, Fahmideh halted the advance of a line of tanks.[7]:57 [6][8][9] Khomeini declared Fahmideh a national hero, stating that the "value of [Fahmideh's] little heart is greater than could be described by hundreds of tongues and hundreds of pens"[6][10] and also calling him "our guide" who "threw himself under the enemy's tank with a grenade and destroyed it, thus drinking the elixir of matyrdom."[6] Khomeini's regime went on to provide a knapsack to every school child in Iran that showed "Fahmideh's heroic sacrifice under the tank and the grenades he used to blow himself up,"[8] and to include Fahmideh's story alongside that of other martyrs in textbooks intended to improve childhood literacy.[11]

First recipients: 1989

The first Order of Fath medals were conferred on September 27, 1989, after the Iran–Iraq War, with three recipients of the award at First Class level:[4]

Alongside them, 21 people received 2nd class medal and 29 people received the 3rd class medal.[1][4]

1990

On February 4, 1990, a total of 210 men received the medal. Some of the recipients in the ceremony included:

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution

2016

Ali Fadavi, commander of Iranian Revolutionary Guards, 1st grade.[4]

2018

Habibollah Sayyari, former commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, 1st grade.

Other famous recipients

References
  1. Poursafa, Mahdi (January 20, 2014). گزارش فارس از تاریخچه نشان‌های نظامی ایران، از «اقدس» تا «فتح»؛ مدال‌هایی که بر سینه سرداران ایرانی نشسته است [From "Aghdas" to "Fath": Medals resting on the chest of Iranian Commanders]. Fars News (in Persian). Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  2. Raw-Rees, Owain (2008). "Awards of the Islamic Republic of Iran" (PDF). Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America. 59 (3): 14–16.
  3. "About the Authors" (PDF). Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America. 60 (6): 2. 2009.
  4. "Leader Confers Medal on IRGC Commanders for Capturing US Marines". Fars News Agency. January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2020. The first ever medals awarded to the Iranian militaries happened after the Iran-Iraq War on September 27, 1989. The first grade medals went to: Martyr Hossein Fahmideh, 13-year-old volunteer soldier of Basij, Mohsen Rezayee, the former IRGC commander, and Martyr Ali Sayyad Shirazi, the former army chief. In addition, 21 people received 2nd and 29 people received 3rd degree medals.
  5. "Commander Stresses IRGC Readiness to Combat Enemy Troops in PG". Fars News Agency. October 29, 2007. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007.
  6. Mitchell, Jolyon P. (2012). "Celebrating Matyrdom – Prologue". Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 47–53. ISBN 9780415557467.
  7. Mitchell, Jolyon (2012). "Contesting Martyrdom". Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 42–64. ISBN 9780199585236.
  8. Baer, Robert (September 3, 2006). "The Making of a Suicide Bomber". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011.
  9. Bunker, Robert J. (May 2007). "Subject Bibliography: Suicide Bombers". Homeland Security Digital Library. Quantico, Virginia: FBI Academy Library, U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  10. Badrkhani, Assal (October 8, 2003). "Put a stop to it – A Memoir in Books". The Iranian. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  11. Davis, Joyce (2004). "The Child as Soldier-Matyr: Iran's Mohammad Hosein Fahmideh". Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance, and Despair in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 45–66. ISBN 9781403966810.
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