Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 13, 2001 - Hashemi Rafsanjani's analysis and reflections on the events surrounding September 11

a consultative meeting with Sheikh Mohammad Emami Kashani.

Full daily entry:

I spent a lot of time listening to and reading the news related to the [September 11] incidents in America. However, due to the news censorship by the U.S. and the West, new information is being released in a slow and controlled manner, and many questions remain unanswered. They say they have identified several of the terrorists, including two names: "Mohammed Atta" from Egypt and "Marwan" from the Emirates. Analysts suggest that most likely dozens of people were involved in this operation. The secrecy and expertise of the attackers have captured the attention of global monitoring centers.

[Osama] bin Laden, [leader of al-Qaeda], and the Taliban are primarily being blamed, while Iraq, the Palestinians, Libya, and Iran are also being mentioned as secondary supporters of terrorism. The U.S. media is placing a lot of pressure on Muslims and Arabs, which is causing distress among them. Saddam Hussein, [President of Iraq], has blamed the U.S. government instead of the perpetrators of the explosions, stating that America is reaping what it has sown. Israel, exploiting the negative atmosphere against Arabs and Palestinians, has intensified its violence, occupying Jenin and carrying out repeated attacks, resulting in 12 martyrs and over 100 injuries.

NATO members have expressed their sympathy with America, stating that according to NATO's provisions, an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all. [George W.] Bush, [President of the U.S.], has referred to these attacks as an act of war and has promised revenge. The number of casualties is not being widely discussed, but it is estimated that at the time of the attack, around 50,000 people were in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, and around 850 people were in the Pentagon, with very few survivors.

The search for bodies will take weeks. In New York, work is gradually resuming, but fear still reigns. Threats and psychological warfare against many Arab governments are widespread. There are constant reports of bomb threats in New York buildings, forcing evacuations, only for residents to return shortly afterward. Such incidents have also occurred in the UK, Germany, Malaysia, and Argentina, but the situation in the U.S. is worse, with repeated reports of car bombs being found.

Most countries around the world have expressed condolences. Some have advised the U.S. to be cautious in its retaliation. In the early hours, they claimed that eight planes had been hijacked, but now there is no mention of the fate of four of those planes. Two planes crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and one in Pennsylvania, but no details have been provided on how it crashed. It has been stated that there were a total of 266 passengers on board the planes, all of whom were killed. It is said that the hijacking teams were composed of three to six members each. No information has yet been released regarding the black boxes of the planes.

Close associates of Ahmad Shah Massoud, [Defense Minister of the Mujahideen government], have reported that his condition is worsening. A consultative meeting was held with Sheikh Mohammad Emami Kashani, [Tehran’s interim Friday prayer leader], who came to my house in the evening. We discussed the content for tomorrow’s Friday prayer sermon regarding America. I advised that terrorism should be condemned, but America should also be told that this is the result of its own oppression, and they should be warned not to further enrage Arabs and Muslims.

It has been decided to allocate a section of the Islamic Republican Party's headquarters [in Sercheshmeh, Tehran] for the construction of a memorial site for the martyrs of the Hafte Tir bombing. Emami Kashani also mentioned that he has compiled an encyclopedia on Imam Mahdi, which he hopes will be as significant as "Al-Ghadir." He added that one of his distant relatives was on one of the hijacked American planes [in the September 11 attack] and has died.