Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 27, 1983

Very early in the morning I went with the Revolutionary Guards to Behesht-e Zahra; to visit the graves of the martyrs. Several sections, consisting of thousands of graves, photographs, and lamps, are dedicated to the martyrs and are steadily increasing. At the graves of the seventy-two martyrs, Ayatollah Taleghani, the martyred Mr. Bahonar, the martyred Mr. Rajaei, the martyred Mr. Chamran, and... one of my Revolutionary Guards, I recited Al-Fatiha and cried.

I went to Parliament. Several bills were passed. During the recess I spoke to the regional commanders and personnel of the Revolutionary Guards. I handed over the rest of running the session to Mr. Yazdi and went to my office to take care of work. They brought the list of cars that the factory was supposed to deliver to Parliament for the representatives. It had problems, so I did not sign it.

At noon Mr. Hadi Ghaffari came and brought a report from Kurdistan. He spoke about the needs: cultural work, road construction, active courts, and... Mr. Miryounesi came and complained that I had attacked supporters of capitalism in the Friday Prayer sermon. A number of other clerics and bazaar merchants also [complained]. In contrast, a number of representatives were grateful. The newspapers had made this the main headline. The family of Shaban, one of my Revolutionary Guards who had been martyred, came, and I comforted them and helped them. In the afternoon the members of the security and identification units of the [Islamic Republic] Party came. I spoke to them. Mr. Seyyed [Mohammad-Taqi] Modarresi came and spoke about the Egyptian al-Jihad group, which is working toward the goal of an Islamic government; we have little information about them.

The Headquarters for the Reconstruction of War-Damaged Areas came and gave a report on their work. They are satisfied with the progress of the work and the people's assistance. Mr. Hosseini from the Air Force, who has fallen out of favor with Mr. Moeinpour, came and asked for help. We attended the Party's Central Council, where the discussion was about the Party's budget and the disagreements between the two factions. It was decided that we would contribute ten million tomans and allocate an amount for the printing house and the publishing company as a source of income.