Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 19, 1991

At half past eight, I reached my office. In the news and reports, America's effort to convey that the war will not end quickly and to prevent Israel's involvement in the war, which may enter in response to Iraq's ballistic missiles, is focused. On the first day, the news was spread in such a way that it seemed that Iraq had lost its balance and was about to leave.

Mr. [Javad] Mansoori, Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, came and talked about the development of cooperation, the establishment of a gas pipeline between the two countries, investment in a refinery in Pakistan, and the presence of jihadists for civil affairs.

Mr. [Mohammed] Ishaq Madani, my adviser on Sunni affairs, came. He talked about the weak relationship with the Sunni scholars of Pakistan and also the need to help the Muslims of Bangladesh in the upcoming elections and asked for the solution to the problem of the Sunni mosque in Mashhad. Mr. [Mohsen] Noorbakhsh and [Syed Mohammad Hussain] Adli came. They gave the report of the trip to Yugoslavia and the fields of cooperation. Currency and economic policies were discussed. They emphasized on speeding up the construction of the gas pipeline to the west and gave a lot of advice on maintaining neutrality in the war.

In the evening, we formed the Supreme National Security Council in the presence of Mr. Khamenei. The investigation of the current state of propaganda and information policy, how to take a position regarding the assumption of Israel's involvement in the war, the continuation of the policy of neutrality and serious avoidance of being drawn into the war in any case, and Gorbachev's reply to me today asking to prevent the development of the war, were discussed and a decision was made.

I went to my office and did the work. Today, Iraq has launched a missile attack on Israel. So far, Israel has refused to react. I came home It has been raining since last night.