Hamid Bakeri was the deputy commander of the 31st Ashura Division (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)) who was martyred in 1984 during Operation Kheibar on Majnoon Island.

Hamid Bakeri was born in 1955 in Miandoab, West Azerbaijan Province.⁠[1] He graduated with a diploma in mathematics from Ferdowsi High School in Urmia and completed his military service at one of the gendarmerie outposts near Urmia.⁠[2] In 1971, his elder brother Ali was executed by the Pahlavi regime for his anti-regime activities. In 1976, Hamid Bakeri traveled to Turkey to continue his studies, but finding the environment unsuitable, he relocated to Aachen, Germany, where he was admitted to the university. In 1978, when Imam Khomeini (ra) left Najaf for France, Hamid also traveled to France to meet him. He then went to Lebanon and Syria for military training. In late 1978, shortly before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Hamid Bakeri, together with Seyyed Yahya Rahim Safavi and Muhammad‑Ebrahim Hemmat, transported weapons and ammunition from Syria through Turkey to the Iranian border in a car. His brother, Mahdi, was responsible for moving the weapons from the border to Tabriz. In 1979, Hamid Bakeri married Fatemeh Amirani. They had two children: Ehsan and Asiyeh.

With the formation of the Urmia IRGC, Hamid Bakeri became a member of the provincial IRGC council in early 1979 and, alongside his brother Mahdi (the commander of the Urmia IRGC), took part in clearing the regions of Serv, Piranshahr, and Baneh from anti‑revolutionary elements. Following Imam Khomeini’ s order to form a 20‑million‑strong army, Hamid Bakeri was placed in charge of the Basij in West Azerbaijan Province and appointed his wife as commander of the women’ s Basij in the province.⁠[3]

While serving in the IRGC, he also cooperated with the Jahad-e Sazandegi Organization of West Azerbaijan Province in rural development and reconstruction of areas liberated from anti-revolutionary forces. After anti‑revolutionary groups entered Sanandaj in 1979, Hamid Bakeri went there with 150 West Azerbaijan IRGC fighters to confront them. In June 1980, when the Democrats and Komala attacked Mahabad, he and his forces were deployed to the city to help repel the assault.⁠[4]

After his brother, Mahdi Bakeri, was elected mayor of Urmia, Hamid became the Urmia municipal inspector.⁠[5]

Following the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, Hamid and his brother Mahdi went to Abadan. Together with other fighters such as Morteza Qorbani and Muhammad-Jafar Asadi, they formed a small combat group in Abadan. Later on, due to pressure from certain individuals in the Central Coordination Staff of the IRGC who questioned their qualifications, the two brothers returned to Urmia, where Hamid resumed his position as municipal inspector.⁠[6] The qualifications of Hamid and Mahdi Bakeri had been questioned because their elder brother Ali, had been a member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization and was executed by SAVAK in 1972.

On March 22, 1982, during Operation Fath al-Mubin in the Reqabiyeh area, Hamid Bakeri led one of the battalions of the Najaf Ashraf Division, commanded at the time by Ahmad Kazemi. He was wounded in the waist during this operation. In the three phases of Operation Beit al-Muqaddas, which began on April 30, 1982, he commanded one of the battalions of the Najaf Ashraf Brigade. His battalion was among the first units to enter Khorramshahr after its liberation and performed prayers in the city’ s Grand Mosque.⁠[7] He also commanded a battalion in the Najaf Ashraf Brigade during Operation Ramazan, which took place in July 1982, east of Basra.

During Operation Moslem ibn Aqil in the Soomar area on October 1, 1982, he oversaw the operational axis for the Ashura Brigade (IRGC) and sustained a hand injury. He later became commander of the 9th Hazrat Abalfazl (as) Brigade.⁠[8]

After Operation Valfajr-e Muqaddamati on February 6, 1983, in Fakkeh and Chazabeh, Hamid Bakeri served as deputy commander of the 31st Ashura Division under his brother Mahdi during Operation Valfajr 1 (April 10, 1983), where he was wounded in the leg and back.

On July 20, 1983, while Operation Valfajr 2 was underway in Piranshahr and Haj Omran, and later during Operation Valfajr 4 on October 19, 1983, in Sulaymaniyah, Panjwin, and north of Basra, Hamid Bakeri served as the deputy commander of the 31st Ashura Division. He had moved his family from Dezful to Eslamabad-e Gharb before Operation Valfajr 4 and settled them in the residential area of the Allah Akbar Garrison.⁠[9]

In Operation Kheibar (February 22, 1984), Hamid Bakeri was sent to Majnoon Island on the order of Mahdi Bakeri to counter an enemy attack and reclaim the island. With the help of his forces, they crossed the bridge over Majnoon Island.⁠[10] Afterward, a fierce Iraqi counterattack began, and reinforcements could not reach Bakeri’ s unit. After three days of resistance near the bridge on Majnoon Island, Hamid Bakeri was martyred on February 25, 1984, when shrapnel struck his head, along with several of his men.⁠[11]

After he was martyred, the cooperation unit of the 31st Ashura Division tried to move his body to the rear, but Mahdi prevented it, saying that all the martyrs’ bodies should return together.⁠[12] Hamid Bakeri is still counted among the unrecovered martyrs.

The bridge on Majnoon Island was later named “ Hamid Bridge” in honor of Hamid Bakeri’ s efforts during the operation.⁠[13] A memorial grave for him is located in the Vadi-e Rahmat Martyrs’ Cemetery in Tabriz.⁠[14] In 2019, one of the streets in Tehran’ s Jannatabad district was named after Hamid Bakeri.⁠[15]

Excerpts of the Martyr Mahdi Bakeri' s will:  
Get to know Allah Almighty as much as you can.
Carry out Islamic rules precisely and completely.
Have a complete familiarity with the Holy Quran, which will be your honor in this world full of sin, and reflect a lot on its verses and learn to recite it.
Appreciate the Islamic Revolution and constantly work towards strengthening the foundations of the Islamic Republic and dedicate your lives to strengthening the foundations of this Republic.⁠[16]