TEHRAN – Young filmmaker Behnam Bahadori has made a short documentary named “Green Zone” that studies the good conduct of Commander Qassem Soleimani toward children.

The Children’s Department of the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization is the producer of the film.

Before his martyrdom on January 3 during a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of IRGC, had a regular program to visit children of his soldiers.

In addition, he frequently paid visits to the children of his comrades martyred during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

“He always called the children of martyrs,” once said Mehdi Hemmat, the son of Ebrahim Hemmat, one Iran’s senior commanders during the war.

“Wherever during the fight in Iraq or Syria, he encountered a difficult situation he called me amid a military operation saying ‘Call the martyrs’ children and tell them to pray for us’,” Hemmat said in a radio program a few months ago.

After the martyrdom of Soleimani, a video showing a little boy named Mohammad-Hossein giving the commander a flower when he was attending a congregational prayer in a mosque in the northern Iranian town of Babol, went viral.

The boy was the son of Hossein Bavas, one of Soleimani’s soldiers martyred in a fight against ISIS.

Iran has produced numerous cultural materials to introduce Soleimani to the younger generation.

One of these materials is “I Am Qassem Soleimani”, a book written by Mohammad Hosseinkhani.

The Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) launched a painting and calligraphy contest named “Like Father, Kind” in memory of Soleimani.   
    
Earlier in January, Art Bureau Deputy Director for Cultural Affairs Hamid Hosseinzadeh announced the center’s plan to produce a documentary about Soleimani’s good behavior toward children.

“Martyr Soleimani and his kind behavior toward children will be the main topic of the documentary,” he said.

“His affection towards children, especially the children of those Iranian soldiers who were martyred by ISIS terrorists in Syria, was very special and was one of the lasting aspects of his character,” he added.

“Any image that narrates specific aspects and bravery of the martyr needs to be recorded and preserved for future generations to show how this national and international hero achieved such a high position and won hearts,” he noted.

Photo: A file photo shows Commander Qassem Soleimani greeting several children of Iranian soldiers martyred by the ISIS terrorists in Syria.

MMS/YAW