Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 8, 1983

Until 10:30 in the morning, I was at home, studying for the Friday Prayer sermons. Mr. Mohammad Darvish came. He brought a machine-made carpet—which we had bought from him—and gave a report on the sale of confiscated goods in Kish and by the Revolutionary Guard. I went to the university to lead the Friday Prayer. Iraqi refugees in Iran held marches in Tehran and Qom on the occasion of the martyrdom of Mr. [Mohammad Baqer] Sadr. Mr. [Mohammad Baqer] Hakim, the spokesman for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, spoke before the sermons.

From the afternoon until night, I was reading the confessions of the leaders of the Tudeh Party. They said they had planned a coup with Soviet support and also claimed they had reached an understanding with America, and that the Soviets had informed them that an understanding had also been reached with the Mojahedin. In the afternoon, our relatives and our worker came from Noq.

Mr. [Abolfazl] Tavakkoli[Bina], the head of the Hajj [and Pilgrimage] Organization, came. They were leaving for Saudi Arabia to arrange accommodations and so on; the Saudis wanted a commitment to maintain discipline and observe their regulations during the Hajj. I told him not to be too strict in the negotiations. At night, Mr. [Ali] Shamkhani came with the official in charge of interrogating the Tudeh members, and we summarized the confessions and made some decisions.

The President called at eleven at night. He was waiting for Mr. Shamkhani to leave; it was about the same matter. It was decided that he would lead next week's Friday Prayer. I recommended that he not treat the representative of [Yasser] Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, who had come to Iran and had a letter for him, coldly.