Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 16, 1983

Early in the morning I went to Parliament. Because I had a fever, I handed the session over to Mr. [Mohammad] Yazdi and went to my office. I took care of administrative work and read the reports. We had two controversial bills. The interpretation of the law over which the Ministry of Oil and the Planning and Budget Organization are in dispute, and the bill to merge the health education centers into the Ministry of Sciences, which is being protested by the Ministry of Health. Both sides are asking me for help; both issues ran into practical difficulties and were postponed.

The Iraqis carried out attacks with aircraft and missiles. Before noon we had a meeting with the country's leaders and Ahmad Agha.

At night we had a meeting of the Central Council of the [Islamic Republic] Party. Mr. Rabbani[Amolshi] also attended. Ahmad Agha had met with him at his home today and offered him membership in the Guardian Council, but he did not accept. Mr. Khamenei spoke with him privately to persuade him. Late at night Ahmad Agha called and said that he still had not accepted, and it was decided that I would also speak with him.

The Prime Minister gave a report on the assessment of the war's damages, stating that the losses for the four ministries of Agriculture, Industries, Roads, and Telecommunications amounted to two hundred billion tomans, and that the losses in the oil sector alone were fifty-six billion dollars, although they had also included the lost profits from oil exports. The discussions were mostly about the Party's duties and responsibilities.