TEHRAN -- War novel “Shonam” embracing the Iran-Iraq war memoirs of Kianush Golzar-Ragheb was introduced in a ceremony held Monday at Tehran’s Art Bureau.

Released by the Sureh-Mehr Publications, the 277-page book explores the author’s 14-month captivity in the Iranian Kurdestan region by the Komoleh terrorist group in northwestern Iran.
The book was unveiled at the venue during a ceremony attended by Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization (IIDO) Director Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Mehdi Khamushi, the director of the bureau Mohsen Momeni-Sharif, author Golzar-Ragheb, actor Reza Kianian and other officials, the Persian service of MNA reported.
“There were about 30 to 40 soldiers detained by the Komoleh in Kurdestan. We were forced to move like gypsies from one village to another, until finally we were imprisoned in Sardasht for a long time.
“I was supposed to be hanged by the Komoleh, but a family that was forced to join the group on the way, saved my life and pleaded with them not to kill me. They had a young girl named Shilan who was playing with dogs all the way from one village to another,” reads part of the book. And the story continues with a love story between the girl and the soldier who is also the narrator of the book.
The ceremony began with a few words by the author who said, “When I was asked to write memoirs of my captivity, I didn’t think I could do it, since I had no idea of how to write a book. But, I was encouraged after I was introduced to Morteza Sarhangi, the director of the Art and Literature Department of the bureau, who promised to publish the book.
“This is the first time a love story is narrated in a book on Iran’s Sacred Defense, and this has caused a reaction in the media. I believe a man is born with love and he can not run away from it,” he said.
The director of the Art Bureau Mohsen Momeni-Sharif was next to speak and said, “A many individuals lost their lives to liberate the cities of Kurdestan, and the book ‘Shonam’ reveals those who were our enemies in those days.”
Outstanding Iranian actor Reza Kianian also present at the ceremony continued, “I congratulate the author as I really enjoyed reading it, but I have one question. Why we are running away from love? Love is created by God and it is not something bad. Why is there so much emphasis that the love mentioned in the book was pure and unfulfilled? Don’t we get married for the sake of love’s fulfillment? I don’t know why we avoid love after all these years and that the subject is still forbidden. I hope that since this book got permission for publishing, these obstacles can also be removed.”
He also referred to a speech by Momeni who proposed a film adaptation of the book, and continued, “It is quite clear that the governmental organization in charge of art and cinema does not tolerate many facts (written in the book). In these types of movies, the Iraqis are naturally bad and we are good, and so far too many movies along these lines have been made but nothing has changed. Do we understand what this eight-year war of Sacred Defense (1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war) really was about? I remember the late filmmaker Rasul Mollaqolipur saying, ‘I wish there would come a day when I could relate what I really saw on the war fronts.’”
Next, the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization (IIDO) Director Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Mehdi Khamushi spoke saying, “All these years, the enemy has made great efforts to break the unity of our people and discredit the Islamic Revolution, so we must reinforce our values based on the Quran since it is the best means to distinguish right from wrong.”