Fatemeh Massih was one of the 36 members of the PMOI/MEK who laid down their lives during an unequal confrontation in Ashraf, on April 8, 2011.
Fatemeh Massih was born in 1956 in the central Iranian city of Yazd.
Her family were religious but at the same time very much against oppression of the mullahs. Her sister was killed by the clerical regime in the early 1980s along with her husband and five of her children and son-in-law. So, she felt the regime’s oppression with her flesh and bone.
Fatemeh Massih used to say that it was her dream to find the PMOI and join them so that she could struggle for the freedom of her country from the mullahs’ clutches.
With the history of her family, however, it was very difficult for her to find a way to leave the country. Finally, when she did so with her two daughters. It was the happiest day of her life. These words are remembered from her, when she said: “All my life and existence is for my people and I have vowed to continue the path of those who gave their lives for freedom.”
She loved her sisters and brothers in Ashraf and she worked hard day and night without letting anyone find out about her efforts. She did not expect anything for herself.
On April 8, 2011, she was one of those who rushed to the front line to defend Ashraf and help their wounded sisters and brothers.
On April 8, 2011, the PMOI freedom fighters stood up to a column of ten armored, infantry, mechanized brigades and battalions of the Iraqi forces affiliated with Tehran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. They attacked Ashraf City at the behest of the Iranian regime to massacre all of its defenseless residents, destroy the city and annihilate the opposition.
The freedom fighters were empty handed without any shields. Snipers targeted them in the head and chest. Armored vehicles ran over at least 22 people. Iraqi forces shelled the residential units. They did not even allow the wounded to be taken to hospital.
The shooting of heavy armored vehicles and snipers continued incessantly for six hours. The plan was to massacre all the residents of Ashraf.
180 people were shot directly. A number of hostages died in captivity. Some 300 people were wounded.
But Ashraf residents stood firm and prevented the enemy from taking over the city which was the beating heart of the Iranian people’s Resistance movement.
