TEHRAN – A new documentary film revealing Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani’s untold stories on Operation Valfajr 8 was released on Monday.

The documentary entitled “When the Night-Time Storm Broke” has been directed by Amir Asgari at the School of Hajji Qassem Foundation.

It is scheduled to be broadcast from the Mostanad Channel, an IRIB channel dedicated to screening documentary films, on Wednesday on the anniversary of the operation that is considered to be one of Iran’s greatest achievements in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.   

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ 41st Sarallah Division commanded by Soleimani was one of Iran’s divisions that took part in the operation.

“This documentary could have been produced during General Soleimani’s lifetime, but he never let us do it,” Asgari said during the release of the documentary at the foundation.

“In response to our proposal to make the documentary, he humbly told us to focus on the division’s role in the operation without any allusion to his presence,” he added.

“As a result, the documentary was never made because it would not have been fair to produce it without reference to his key role in the operation.”      

Asgari had also carried out an interview with General Soleimani in 2013, however, he wouldn’t allow it to be published during his lifetime.

Parts of the documentary also feature interviews Asgari did with Soleimani and several other IRGC chiefs, while he accompanied them on a visit to the former warzones where Operation Valfajr 8 was carried out.

Abbas Mirzai, the writer of several books on the war and the 41st Sarallah Division, including “Bumpy Roads to Imamzadeh”, has made great contributions to the research for the documentary.

Asgari said that the Arvand River was calm during the reconnaissance missions for Valfajr 8, but it was stormy on the night when the operation was launched.

“It was very difficult to cross the river amid the storm,” Asgari noted.

Operation Valfajr 8 was launched by Iran on February 9, 1986. It was a sophisticated and carefully planned amphibious assault across the Arvand River against the Iraqi troops defending the strategic Al-Faw peninsula, which connects Iraq to the Persian Gulf. 

Iran defeated the Iraqi defenders, mostly the Iraqi Popular Army, capturing the tip of the peninsula, including Iraq’s main air control and warning center covering the Persian Gulf, as well as limiting Iraq’s access to the ocean. 

Iran managed to maintain their foothold in Al-Faw against several Iraqi counter-offensives, including Republican Guard assaults and chemical attacks, for another month despite heavy casualties until a stalemate was reached.     

The operation was the initial part of the First Battle of Al-Faw that was fought on the Al-Faw peninsula between 10 February and 10 March 1986. 

By this operation, the Iranians were able to capture the Al-Faw peninsula, cutting off Iraqi access to the Persian Gulf in the process. The peninsula was later recaptured by Iraqi forces near the end of the war by the massive use of illegal chemical weapons.

Photo: A poster for the documentary “When the Night-Time Storm Broke”.

MMS/YAW