Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 24, 1983

Today, because of the meeting with the Imam, we did not have a public session. Only the members of Parliament were present at the Jamaran Hosseiniyeh. It was also snowing heavily. Before the Imam's speech, I spoke briefly about the state of Parliament and praised the representatives. The Imam, in the introduction to his speech, confirmed what I had said, but in his advice he said things that upset the majority of the representatives. The Imam spoke about the Islamic nature of the laws in a way that overshadowed the votes of the members of Parliament with the views of the Guardian Council; it strengthened the Guardian Council and weakened Parliament. Of course, the minority of representatives who are dissatisfied with Parliament's radicalism were pleased. He also criticized the government for failing to meet the needs of the front. The Imam has become concerned about the radicalism and leftward tendencies of some representatives and officials, and apparently intends to rein them in.

Later, I spoke with Ahmad Agha, and with the Imam's permission, the attack on the government and one sentence from his remarks about the representatives were removed. I requested that the Imam's words be paraphrased, but the Imam did not accept. He believes he did not say anything wrong. Dr. [Hassan] Rouhani also tried, but did not succeed. I stayed home until night and studied. I was sad and depressed.

The Revolutionary Guards and the bodyguards also met with the Imam after us. The Imam did not speak much with them, and it was only a meeting. They will also complain about this. Mr. Asafi and a group of Afghan clerics from the "Islamic Movement" Party of Afghanistan came and gave a report on the state of the Shiite struggle and their disagreements with others, complained about the IRGC's Movements Unit, and asked for assistance.