A colleague of martyred general , Valliollah Fallahi , has emphasized that we owe our freedom and security today, precisely because men like Fallahi sacrificed their lives for their country.

In an exclusive interview with Iran Press on Thursday, retired General Bakhtiary, emphasized that martyred Major General Fallahi's organizational and leadership skills effectively gave a new lease of life to the Iranian army, during the Iraqi-imposed war, and his sacrifices led to Iran's victories in that war.

Once a junior officer under the command of  Major General Valliollah  Fallahi, retired General Bakhtiary emphasized that Fallahi's acumen and military skills were crucial in guiding Iran to eventual victory over the Ba'athist enemy.

Responding to a question about how Major General Fallahi had organised the Iranian army's ground forces after the Ba'athist regime in Baghdad attacked Iran in 1980, General  Bakhtiary said  at that time we had security problems in Western, Northern, and Eastern regions of Iran, creating difficulty for the martyred  General Fallahi, but he successfully organized the ground forces, and deployed them in insecure regions of the country, mounting a successful campaign against the Ba'athist invaders. Despite the fact that the Iranian army was disorganized at the beginning of Iraq's invasion, with organizational and leadership skills of Major General Valliollah  Fallahi, we defended ourselves and pushed back the Ba'athist forces.

In further remarks, retired General  Bakhtiary said he was certain that the current generation of recruits in the Iranian armed forces  were well-capable of defending the country  should the enemy be unwise enough to launch an aggression against this nation. General  Bakhtiary emphasized that today's generation of army officers  will do a fine job defending the country, perhaps even better then the older generation at the time of the eight-year-imposed-war.