Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 12, 1988

I got up for morning prayer and didn't sleep anymore; I am tired, tired of the road and the problems of war. I listened to American and English radios. America has decided to give compensation to the families of the martyrs of the Iranian Airbus plane. Most of the discussions are about the consequences of this incident and the Security Council, which is scheduled to hold a meeting today at our request; Although British radio said it was two days late, it later turned out that the BBC news was true.

Mr. Mohsen Rezaei came. He explained the defense situation of Abadan Island, Khorramshahr and other places. They reported that at half past six, the enemy attacked the area of ​​Zubaidat and Hamzain, which the army is defending. As usual, the first news said that they had repelled the attack, but little by little, as usual, they said that the line was broken in several places. Chemical weapons were used. Later it turned out that around eleven o'clock the work was completely finished.

From the cities near the battle area, the news comes that the fugitive forces have arrived there and the enemy is present on the Dehlran road, and they have penetrated deep into the obstacles and emptied the camp of the Lashkar. Mr. [Hussein [Alai] commander of the IRGC Navy] informed that boats hit a ship carrying Kuwaiti oil and engaged with American helicopters.

In the evening, Mr. Mohsen Rezaei, [Ali Shamkhani,] Gholam Ali [Rashid and] Yahya Rahim] Safavi came and we talked about war and defense and the organization of the armed forces. At night, the camps of Karbala and Najaf came and told their plans to defend Khorramshahr and Abadan. The combat engineer came and told the plan of fortifications and barriers to protect Ahvaz, Abadan and Khorramshahr.

At the end of the night, we talked about the plan of the General Staff and the future of the armed forces. We talked with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Guidance about the announcement of withdrawal from Halabja and it was announced today. The Prime Minister is concerned about the negative effects of this on the deployment of troops and asked me to do an interview.