Amir Meyghani
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Amir Meyghani (Pasdani: , born 20 October 1953, ;83; January 17 2020, aged 66), was a Zorasani general and politician. He served in the Zorasani Irfanic Revolutionary Army Land Forces from 1971 until his death in 2020. He was posthumously promoted to Major General and bestowed the status of Shahid-yi Inqelab (Martyr of the Revolution).
Meyghani served in several key roles throughout his career, including a series of administrative posts in the Irvadi Revolutionary Provisional Government (1979-80). He went on to command government forces in the Al-Hizan Uprising and the Al-Thawra Rebellion during the early and mid-1980s, during which he stirred controversy over his strategies and tactics. In 1989, he was promoted to the rank of general, where he received the mandatory life-term seat in the Zorasani Superior Council of the Union (the upper-house of the Zorasani parliament). During the 1990s and early 2000s he secured prominent teaching positions at the Imam Khosrow Military Academy and the Union Defence University, before being appointed to the Central Command Council in 2009. He was appointed deputy chairman of the council in 2016.
In late 2019, he was appointed as the official representative of the Zorasani government to the League of the Righteous movement in neighboring Tsabara during the later stages of the Tsabaran Crisis. On January 17 2020, he was killed alongside four other Zorasani officers when returning to Zorasan from Tsabara. His week long stay in Tsabara saw his successful persuasion of the League of the Righteous to attend the Spálgleann Peace Talks. His killing was that of the highest ranking officer in the Zorasani military since 1969 and led directly to a significant increase in Zorasani involvement in Tsabara, as well as the immediate retaliatory strike dubbed Operation Eghtedar-e Entegham.
Early life
Meyghani was born in the village of Rezvanshahr in southern Pardaran on 20 October 1953. He was born to a poor farming family, as the youngest of six children. His two elder brothers, Hassan and Abdolreza were killed in action during the Badawiyan War (1965-1968), this led to Meyghani having to move in with a paternal uncle in the city of Soltanabad to earn the family more money. During his time in Soltanabad, he completed school and took a job as a low level civil servant for the city government. However, inspired by his brothers, he would volunteer for the Zorasani Irfanic Revolutionary Army, joining the ground forces at 18.
Military career
Meyghani joined the army in 1971 and completed basic training with commendations from his superiors. Upon completing training, Meyghani was assigned to the 33rd Infantry Division under the 2nd Banner Army located in northern Khazestan on the border with the Irvadi People's Republic.
1971-1975
In 1973, after two years of deployment with the 33rd Infantry Division, Meyghani's company was directly involved in the Tal Samad Incident. The strategic hill which overlooked a relatively flat area of semi-arid desert was attacked in the early hours by soldiers of the Irvadi People's Army. Meyghani alongside his company were stationed on the hill and successfully repulsed the attack, his bravery and the successful extraction of a wounded comrade while under fire secured him a promotion to corporal. In early 1974, Meyghani's company was deployed to reinforce defensive positions during the Zarhya Zainab Incident, during the battle, Meyghani's squad commander was killed and he assumed command, following which, he successfully led his squad in the capture of an Irvadi position. His success resulted in a further promotion to the rank of captain, at the age of 24.
Irvadistan War
The surprise and sudden invasion of Khazestan by the Irvadi People's Republic, sparked the five-year conflict that would leave over 850,000 dead from both sides. The relatively poor preparations by the 2nd Banner Army on the border and the dismissal of the Irvadi threat by the UKP leadership resulted in catestrophic losses and defeats during the first few months of the war. Meyghani's company narrowly escaped being surrounded and destroyed and was withdrawn along with the 33rd Infantry Division to the city of Hejjnah. Between 1975 and 1976, Meyghani and his division would be besieged in the city, in which described it as a "relentless and ceaseless desolation of humanity."
The successful relieving of the Hejjnah siege in early 1976 saw Meyghani and the 33rd Division attached to the newly formed 3rd Banner Army. In the summer of 1976, Meyghani and the 33rd Division took part in the first major offensive by the UKP into Irvadistan itself. In his chronicles of the 33rd Division published in the 1990s, Meyghani described the 1976-77 period as the "most liberating, truly you are elevated in emotion as part of an unrelenting wave of victory that is the Zorasani war machine." In 1978, he was promoted to the rank of Major and placed in command of the 20th Infantry Battalion under the 3rd Banner Army, this rank would see him lead the battalion during the final offensives of the Irvadistan War and would see action in the Battle of Qufiera, which resulted in the collapse of the Irvadi People's Republic. He described the fall of Qufeira as the, "greatest elation one can feel, it was as if the world itself let out a sigh of relief."
Post-war Irvadistan
In wake of the Irvadi surrender in 1979, Meyghani and his battalion were permamently deployed to the country to assist in securing its transition into the Union of Zorasani Irfanic Republics dated for 1980. In late 1979, was promoted to lieutenant general at the age of 26, and granted command of the 23rd Armoured Division. In December, Meyghani assumed a position with the Irvadi Revolutionary Provisional Government as an assistant to the Interim Minister of Internal Security. Meyghani would be credited with numerous successes in destroying numerous nascent resistance movements, while also gaining a reputation for rejecting heavy handedness as prefer by his fellow Zorasani officers. One key success of Meyghani's was his advocacy for reconstruction being conducted by both Irvadi and Zorasani soldiers to forment comeradery and to present an image of a benevolent military presence. Meyghani with the support of the 3rd Banner Army commander, General Sadeq Ashari, implemented a policy of "loyalty reconstruction", in which the most loyal areas of Irvadistan would be fast-tracked in seeing services returned and ultimately improved upon in comparison to those of the pre-war socialist regime in Irvadistan.
Despite success in areas outside of Qufeira, resistance in the Irvadi capital continued for several years following the establishment of the UZIR. On 25 April 1980, Meyghani was slightly injured when a bomb exploded outside a resturaunt frequented by military officers and Irvadi politicians, while Meyghani survived with only cuts and bruises, 10 others were killed. The bomb attack had little effect on Meyghani who in his chronicles of the war wrote, "little did that explosion inflict upon me, physically or emotionally. I was not deterred to do my part in assuring the completion of unification." The bomb attack however, was a precursor to two subsequent uprisings across Irvadistan, in which Meyghani would play prominent roles.
Al-Hizan Uprising
Beginning in mid-1981, a loose collection of urban guerrilla groups in the Irvadi city of Al-Hizan staged a series of armed take-overs of police stations and security checkpoints, before ultimately seizing much of the city. Meyghani subordinated to General Ashari was ordered to retake the city from the rebels, who hoped to inspire similar actions across Irvadistan.
Meyghani requested the deployment of loyalist Irvadi units to assist in retaking city, while he also established a series of popular militias to contest the rebels within Al-Hizan. Notoriously, he opted to recruit the use of elements of the since dissolved Blank Hand group. Securing supply lines through to loyalist militias, the city collapsed into anarchy and unrestrained violence between Irvadis. Between April and July, over 3,200 people were killed within the city, before Ashari ordered the deployment of regular forces to clear out the rebels. Meyghani successfully oversaw the defeat of the rebellion, commanding the 23rd Division. Over 10,000 people would be killed between July and October during the regular offensive.
In 1982, Meyghani was appointed as the immediate second-in-command to General Ashari, whilst he also served as the intermediary between Ashari and the Irvadi state administration. Meyghani’s close ties to Ashari also saw the establishment of personal ties with leading national political figures and commanders.
Al-Thawra Rebellion
In 1983, a second and much wider rebellion erupted in several Irvadi cities, led by the Al-Thawra (lit. The Free), an umbrella group comprised and led by former Irvadi People's Army officers and soldiers who escaped detention following the establishment of the UZIR. The Al-Thawra leadership, utilising links with figures in the left-wing regime of neighboring Tsabara were able to amass significant quantities of weapons and ammunition, while the Al-Hizan Uprising had served as a much needed distraction. Meyghani lambasted the "sense of serenity in victory after 1981" among the military leadership in Irvadistan and in a daring TV appearance in late 1983 accused his superiors of, "suffering the same degree of ignorance in peace and arrogance in strength that unleashed the Irvadistan War in the first place."
Meyghani noted in wake of the Al-Thawra's defeat in Zubajda and Jazrah, "our greatest weapon now is the need for the peace and the weariness of the martyr," in reference to the limited popular support the rebellion found. Meyghani would play a more prominent role in the crushing of the revolt than the previous uprising. Meyghani led a series successful operations against the Al-Thawra rebels in Assan and rural Irvadistan, with regular forces under his command being augmented by local Irvadi militia. Unlike the previous Hizan uprising, Meyghani did not advocate clemency or amnesty for rebel leaders, and instead ordered his forces to either kill or capture the leadership, citing their previous records as personnel of the Irvadi People's Army. In early 1985, Meyghani successfully lobbied government support for the use of special forces to pursue Al-Thawra leaders, while he succeeded in shutting down supply routes from Tsabara, he also used his position to request increased military forces, as part of a threat by Zorasan to attack southern Tsabara for its hosting of supply depots and supporters of Al-Thawra.
The collapse of the Communalist Republic of Tsabara in 1985 following the Emessan War, saw Al-Thawra lose its most important ally and patron and soon saw its supply lines collapse. The loss of materiel aid and a series of fatal raids by the Takavaran against Al-Thawra command posts and leaders ultimately led to the rebellion fizzling out and collapsing outright later that year. For his role, Meyghani was promoted to the rank of general in 1986 and in 1987 was transferred to the Imam Khosrow Military Academy in Zahedan to teach officer cadets his theories and strategies relating to counter-insurgency.
1987-2016
Between 1987 and 1990, Meyghani dedicated himself to his prominent teaching position at the Imam Khosrow Academy, where his course was focused on the application of counter-insurgency tactics and strategies. During these three years, he also wrote and published the two-volume Ehden's Last Gleaming, which chronicled the battles of the 33rd Infantry Division and the war as a whole respectively. The books were widely acclaimed by both historians and critics alike and secured Meyghani as a household name, owing to the mandatory reading by schools as of 1991. The mandatory reading coupled with genuine popularity of the books earned Meyghani a significant sum of money.
After three years of resisting, in 1990, Meyghani finally accepted his life-term seat in the Superior Council. All Zorasani military officers who attain the rank of general (and equivalent ranks in the other branches of the armed forces) are granted life-term positions in the upper-house of the Zorasani parliament. However, Meyghani repeatedly refused, fearing it would distract him from his teaching at the Academy and had no personal interest in politics. From 1990 onward he would serve regularly in his political capacity and would write a further three books detailing military histories of the Badawiyan War, the Kexri Conflict and the Pardarian Civil War. In 1994, he became the Commandant of the Union Defence Academy, the most prestigious of the country's academies. Between 1994 and 1998, he would reform the school to reflect "modernity in combat and to become a vanguard of emergent strategies and technologies."
From 1995 to 1999, he served on the board of the National Armaments Group.
In 2003, he was appointed General Commandant of Academies, tasked with overseeing all military academies across Zorasan, where he expanded his reforms. In 2008, he secured government funding for a new military academy, dedicated solely to the study and development of strategies relating to cyber-warfare and electronic surveillance.
During the Tufan crisis, Meyghani was one of 85 military commanders to sign an open letter demanding the resignation of the Ekrem Dalan-Izzat al-Din Kahala liberal government.
In 2009, he was appointed to the Central Command Council as a voting member by Major General Haider Abid Ali, the then Supreme Commander of the Zorasani Irfanic Revolutionary Army. This new position elevated him to become one of the most influential members of the Zorasani state. In this position, Meyghani became the leading voice for the Millenium Modernisation Programme and for the significant investure into next generation war fighting systems, particularly cyber warfare and Misinformation campaigns. In 2012, he was tasked with overseeing Division 18, a sub-section of ETAR, the military intelligence service, reportedly involving specialist cyber-warfare teams.
2016-2020
In 2016, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Central Command Council, by Alireza Fadavi, who had promoted to serve as chairman and Supreme Commander of the Irfanic Revolutionary Army. As the Deputy Chairman he held considerable influence over the Zorasani armed forces and by extension, the political system of the country. However, it was noted in wake of his death that he rarely if ever made any comment public or private on matters relating to government or government policy. Conversely, on matters relating to military reform and modernisation, Meyghani became the de-facto leader in this regard. Together with Adavazdar Golzadari, Ataollah Shamshiri and Sadavir Hatami constituted the leading clique advocating "continental military superiority", a policy that advocates Zorasan's military capabilities match or exceed its nearest rival or peer.
In 2018, he took up a position with the National Security and Strategic Studies Association, a think-tank closely aligned with the military and civilian hardliners. Between 2018 and until his death in 2020, he would regularly write articles calling for a formal policy of military interventionism in Zorasan's immediate region. In late 2019, he wrote an article openly calling for Zorasan to either intervene in Tsabara against the threats to Atwan al-Tughluq, or to replace him with a "reliable and firm partner, who would guarantee the security and stability of the northern reaches of Coius, from all threats both internal and external."
Political career
On April 19 1990, Meyghani was promoted to the rank of General. Under the Zorasani constitution, all serving officers who attain the rank of general are entitled to hold a life-term seat in the upper-house of the federal parliament. According to his biography, he was initially hesitant to enter the national parliament, owing to his personal preference of teaching army cadets, however, he was pressured by fellow officers to take the “state offered gift.” He accepted on April 23 and was registered to replace Samir al-Jubairi, a former general who was retiring both from his military and political career.
On July 14 1990, Meyghani assumed his seat in the Superior Council of the Union and became a member of Zorasan Zendebad, the political faction that organises the military appointed members of the Zorasani legislature. According to the Parliamentary Recorder, Meyghani’s attendance averaged 78% from his assumption till his death in 2020. He voted all major legislation and 68% of smaller legislation, he fell within the voting traditions of the ideological Sattarist factions.
Through his seat in the upper-house, Meyghani was viable for political appointment and between 1995 and 1999, he served on the board of the National Armaments Group, the state-owned weapons producer. In 2001, he was named in a leaked memo indicating corruption at the board level, with suspicions he alongside three other officers had profited through kickbacks secured by deals made between the NAG and privately-owned weapons manufacturers. It was never investigated by the General Army Inspectorate, nor confirmed by third parties.
As a member of the Superior Council and his role as the intermediary between the Zorasani government and the League of the Righteous in eastern Tsabara, he was charged with presenting reports and updates to behind-closed door meetings with the National and External Security Committee.
Masood Saleh, a noted commentator on the Superior Council described Meyghani as a “part-timer, like many officers. But he would be present when needed and when it counted, and he certainly sat with the traditionalist Sattarist hardliners.” He also described Meyghani as a “typical general-politician, present but never truly involved. He was the reliable supporter of the more politically active and involved, but more than not, saw his presence in the Superior Council as a duty.”
Death
On the 9 January 2020, Meyghani and four other officers from the Zorasani armed forces travelled to Sidi Amar to persuade Sheik Faizan Salah, the leader of the League of the Righteous, to participate in the proposed peace talks in Caldia. This development was not announced publicly, nor was any public record found of his travels to Sidi Amar during the period.
Three days later, Sheik Salah confirmed that he and the Supreme Political Council of the LR had agreed to send representatives to Spálgleann, ostensibly confirming General Meyghani’s success in persuading the cleric to pursue a peaceful solution to the Tsabaran Crisis. After eight days in Sidi Amar, where the Zorasani delegation oversaw talks alongside Sheik Salah, they departed the city to return to Zorasan.
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Earlier clashes between protesters and federal security forces had effectively blocked access to Sidi Amar’s regional airport, forcing the group to take to a motorcade to the border. The group left the residence of Sheik Salah shortly after 8.30am. The motorcade consisted of four SUV vehicles provided by the Sidi Amar city administration. The group was accompanied by six armed LR bodyguards including the four drivers and travelled along the Al-Tuban Road toward the border crossing of the same name.
Shortly after 9am, the motorcade struck what is believed to be an improvised explosive device. The explosion knocked over the lead vehicle which steadied to block the road. The IED was placed in a section of the road that was flanked by steep rockfaces roughly 10m high in either side. The rear vehicle was then struck by a rocket-propelled grenade or some other explosive device. The motorcade was then racketed by gunfire, with the attack lasting no longer than 3 minutes. All ten Tsabarans and the four Zorasani officers were killed instantly, while Meyghani survived but with serious injuries. Within 10 minutes, federal and provincial security forces arrived and evacuated Meyghani to Sidi Amar’s general hospital for treatment. However, he died on the operating table from fatal blood loss at 9.42am.
His death was not reported in Zorasani state media until the morning of January 18, where a military spokesman confirmed the attack and Meyghani’s death. The same spokesman confirmed that his four aides were also killed in the attack. Three days of national mourning was declared by the Zorasani government, alongside confirmation that the Lions of the Homeland were responsible. This was followed by a series of draconian laws aimed at preventing infiltration by the Lions, of the Zorasani Atudite minority and a promise of revenge.
The ambush that killed Meyghani and four other Zorasani officers is considered part of the wider attacks across Eastern Tsabara that killed 249 civilians, almost all Badawiyan Irfani and injured over 300 more. The attacks are also considered to be the beginning of the Tsabaran Civil War.
Reaction
The Lions of the Homeland in their series of social media posts and videos which claimed responsibility for the January 17 Attacks made direct reference to the killing General Meyghani and the four others. In his only video message, Lions’ leader, Elezar-ben Ya’ir claimed the assassination was aimed at “sending a direct message to Salah’s masters in Zahedan. This is our nation and you will not conquer us through that cleric in Sidi Amar.”
Many nationalist Atudites had argued for years that the League of the Righteous was a Zorasani puppet-movement, and explained the close relationship built during the presidency of Atwan al-Tughluq, who ostensibly relied heavily on the League of the Righteous and Sheik Faizan Salah for political and spiritual support and legitimacy.
Zorasani retaliation
On 23 and 24 January 2020, under Operation Eghtedar-e Eghtedam (Pasdani: عملیات لیلةالقدر; lit. Operation Power of Revenge), the Zorasani military launched a series of missile and drone strikes against pre-selected targets in Tsabara held by the Lions of the Homeland. Beginning the late hours of the 23rd and ending in the early hours of the next day, the Zorasani strikes struck several ammunition stores, a training camp and the personal residence Shimshon Alon, the political chief of the Atudite nationalist group. The strikes killed 233 suspected Lions militants according to the Tsabaran government, which was informed by the Zorasani government prior to the attack. Among the Lions' killed, was Shimshon Alon and his family.
First Minister Farzad Akbari in a televised address on the night of the 24 January, said, "now our martyrs can rest, we have avenged them. Martyr Meyghani can now rest too, knowing that his efforts in later life to deliver our nation the very tools we used to strike the murderous Atudite extremists was a success. Our Union and our revolution stands secure in its righteous vegenance."