Iran cinemas screen film on martyred divers

A film on 175 martyred Iranian military divers in Iraq is currently on the silver screen in theaters across the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

Cinemas in Tehran are paying tribute to the martyred Iranian divers – whose bodies were recently recovered some 30 years after the end of the Iraqi- imposed war on Iran – with the screening of the film ‘Snorkel’.

‘Snorkel’ is inspired by the true story of the Iranian scuba divers, who go missing while working on a mission to dig a tunnel during the war years.

The film is co-directed by Ali Soleimani and Hadi Hajatmand, starring Borzou Arjmand, Mahchehreh Khalili, Kaveh Sammakbashi and Rahim Norouzi.

The Iraqi-imposed war on Iran lasted from 1980-88. The bodies of the 175 martyred Iranian military divers were recovered along with those of 95 other martyrs back in May, 2015.

Some of the retrieved bodies had their hands tied and bore no scars, indicating that they were buried alive by the forces of the former Iraqi Ba’ath regime during Operation Karbala-4.

Operation Karbala-4 was launched under the cover of darkness in late December 1986, and was meant to give Iranian forces a foothold along the Arvand Roud waterway in the country's southwest. The Iranian troops would go on the offensive once across the waterway, and move onto the Iraqi port city of Basra. However, the operation did not go as planned.

The deposed Iraqi Ba’ath regime was notified of Operation Karbala-4 mainly through US intelligence operatives.

AI/AI