During his father’s absence Sayyid Ahmad gave the relevant messages from Imam Khomeini to those who were fighting for the revolution. He also frequently visited those who were in prison. During the first few months of 1967, Sayyid Ahmad left for Iraq once more. This time he left via Khoramshahr.
During this trip, Sayyid Ahmad was officially given the title of clergyman and a turban was placed on his head. The Imam’s son also attended his father and brother’s lectures in the short time he was in Najaf. Imam Khomeini told Sayyid Ahmad what to do next and sent messages and issued statements, which Sayyid Ahmad had to give to different people in Qom.
On the 29th of June 1967, Sayyid Ahmad was captured on the Iranian borders and the SAVAK immediately recognized him. He was held in the Gasr-e-Shirin intelligence ministry, which is situated in Kermanshah, and after a while was sent to Gizil Gal’a Prison. This prison was a particularly terrifying and dark prison.
The SAVAK were unable to get any information out of Sayyid Ahmad and they saw this as an embarrassing failure. In addition they didn’t want to create a scene and get people roused once more, so they told Sayyid Ahmad that if he liked, they could give his passport as long as he went to Iraq and didn’t return. However they were unaware that the Imam had told Sayyid Ahmad exactly what tactics to use with them and to reject any offers. The Imam’s son was finally freed on the 15th of August 1967.
When Sayyid Ahmad was freed, he wrote a letter to his father in Najaf. He knew well that his letter would first be read by the SAVAK and then sent to his father. In the letter Sayyid Ahmad tells the Imam that he has been freed from prison and he is fine, and indirectly informs him that no information was given away. He also says that, he had a good time in prison and he would have liked to stay longer, and repeats this several times throughout the letter. The reason Sayyid Ahmad said this was that, he knew the SAVAK could only come to two conclusions when reading this sentence in his letter. Either that he was an unusual man and not normal or that he wanted to stay in prison to provoke the people to start protesting once more. This confused the Shah’s officials and so they opted to leave him be. This was only one of Sayyid Ahmad’s clever tactics, but it is evident they were vital for the success of the revolution.