Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 16, 1983

Early in the morning I called the front. Mr. Mohsen Rezaei [Commander of the Revolutionary Guards] confirmed the loss of Hills 142 and 145, along with some casualties and the capture of about 25 prisoners. He said that in return, we had struck elsewhere, and that they were planning to withdraw from Hill 112 as well. I went to visit the Imam. I expressed my view regarding unofficial negotiations with Saudi Arabia and discussed what we should do if they prevented our demonstrations during the Hajj. I argued that it would be better not to be stubborn and to accept their domestic regulations. At first, he was unwilling for us to make such a concession to Saudi Arabia. But after discussion and reasoning that, in exchange for their commitment to cooperate on oil, not assist Saddam, and cooperate on the Palestine issue, it was worthwhile to accept that, as the government and the Imam, and officially, we would not encourage people to demonstrate and would ask them to observe the regulations; he accepted it to that extent.

I told him the news from the front, including reports that we had suffered two thousand martyrs and had also lost three or four hills. Earlier, [Ayatollah] Mr. Khamenei had insisted by telephone that I tell him. Dr. Velayati [Foreign Minister] had also, before me, informed the Imam of the outcome of his negotiations with the Syrians regarding the Soviet Union.

Before noon, two men from the Evin Prosecutor's Office came and described the confession of one of the defendants about his cooperation with [Masoud] Keshmiri in the Prime Minister's Office bombing. He had been detained all this time and had not confessed. This confession would also lead to the discovery of other things. They also spoke about the new position of the Mojahedin and were concerned about the weakening of the Revolutionary Courts. They also complained about the weakness of intelligence resources. In the afternoon I had a slight fever; I took medicine. The children brought news that the son of Mr. Javad Rafighdoost had been martyred at the front. We received word that many wounded had been brought in. Late at night I contacted the front; Mr. Rahim Safavi said that we had almost returned to the situation before the attack.