Order of Fath

Fath Medal

All grades of Order of Fath
TypeDecoration
Country Iran
Presented byCommander-in-chief Supreme Leader of Iran
StatusCurrently awarded
First award27 September 1989

Ribbon of the medal
Precedence
EquivalentFath grade 1
Fath grade 2
Fath grade 3
Hajizadeh receiving the Order of Fath from the Supreme Leader of Iran, after October 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel

The Fath Medal (Persian: نشان فتح, lit. 'Conquer Medal') is a military award of the Iranian armed forces which is awarded by the commander-in-chief, the Supreme Leader of Iran.

History and description

First awarded on 27 September 1989, the medal shows three Palm leaves over Khorramshahr's grand mosque (as a symbol of resistance), the flag of Iran, and the word "Fath". It is a military award of the Iranian armed forces and is awarded by the commander-in-chief, the Supreme Leader of Iran.

As of 2008, the medal was awarded in three grades. Senior commanders are typically awarded a first class medal, colonels and brigadiers usually receive a second class award, while third class awards are granted to those ranked at or below lieutenant colonel.

Recipients

First recipients (1989)

The first Order of Fath medals were conferred on 27 September 1989, after the Iran–Iraq War, with three recipients of the award at First Class level.

  • The first recipient of the Order of Fath was Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh. Fahmideh's award was posthumous, as he was killed in November 1980 when, as a 13-year-old boy, he was fighting in the Iran–Iraq War. He disabled an Iraqi tank by jumping under it while wearing a belt of grenades from which he had removed the pins. In so doing, Fahmideh halted the advance of a line of tanks.: 57  Khomeini declared Fahmideh a national hero, stating that the "value of [Fahmideh's] little heart is greater than could be described by hundreds of tongues and hundreds of pens" and also calling him "our guide" who "threw himself under the enemy's tank with a grenade and destroyed it, thus drinking the elixir of matyrdom." Khomeini's government went on to provide a knapsack to every school child in Iran that showed "Fahmideh's heroic sacrifice under the tank and the grenades he used to blow himself up," and to include Fahmideh's story alongside that of other "martyrs" in textbooks intended to improve childhood literacy.
  • Mohsen Rezaee, commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
  • Ali Sayad Shirazi, commander of Islamic Republic of Iran Army

Alongside them, 21 people received 2nd class medal and 29 people received the 3rd class medal.

1990

On 4 February 1990, a total of 210 men received the medal. The recipients included:

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution

Both

2014

2016

2018

2021

2024

Unknown date

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Poursafa, Mahdi (20 January 2014). گزارش فارس از تاریخچه نشان‌های نظامی ایران، از «اقدس» تا «فتح»؛ مدال‌هایی که بر سینه سرداران ایرانی نشسته است [From "Aghdas" to "Fath": Medals resting on the chest of Iranian Commanders]. Fars News (in Persian). Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Leader awards Fath Medal to Army and IRGC chiefs". Tehran Times. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  3. ↑ Raw-Rees, Owain (2008). "Awards of the Islamic Republic of Iran" (PDF). Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America. 59 (3): 14–16.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Leader Confers Medal on IRGC Commanders for Capturing US Marines". Fars News Agency. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2020. The first ever medals awarded to the Iranian militaries happened after the Iran-Iraq War on September 27, 1989. The first grade medals went to: Martyr Hossein Fahmideh, 13-year-old volunteer soldier of Basij, Mohsen Rezayee, the former IRGC commander, and Martyr Ali Sayyad Shirazi, the former army chief. In addition, 21 people received 2nd and 29 people received 3rd degree medals.[permanent dead link]
  5. ↑ "Commander Stresses IRGC Readiness to Combat Enemy Troops in PG". Fars News Agency. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mitchell, Jolyon P. (2012). "Celebrating Matyrdom – Prologue". Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 47–53. ISBN 9780415557467.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Jolyon (2012). "Contesting Martyrdom". Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 42–64. ISBN 9780199585236.
  8. 1 2 Baer, Robert (3 September 2006). "The Making of a Suicide Bomber". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011.
  9. ↑ Bunker, Robert J. (May 2007). "Subject Bibliography: Suicide Bombers". Homeland Security Digital Library. Quantico, Virginia: FBI Academy Library, U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  10. ↑ Badrkhani, Assal (8 October 2003). "Put a stop to it – A Memoir in Books". The Iranian. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  11. ↑ Davis, Joyce (2004). "The Child as Soldier-Matyr: Iran's Mohammad Hosein Fahmideh". Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance, and Despair in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 45–66. ISBN 9781403966810.
  12. 1 2 Poursafa, Mahdi (20 January 2014). گزارش فارس از تاریخچه نشان‌های نظامی ایران، از «اقدس» تا «فتح»؛ مدال‌هایی که بر سینه سرداران ایرانی نشسته است [From "Aghdas" to "Fath": Medals resting on the chest of Iranian Serdars] (in Persian). Fars News. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "پایگاه اطلاع‌رسانی دفتر مقام معظم رهبری". leader.ir. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2024.