Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 18, 1988

I stayed at home until three in the afternoon. There was no news from the fronts about a conflict with the enemy. I asked for Brigadier General [Ali] Shahbazi. He came and we negotiated about the replacement of the commander of the army's ground forces and the removal of the army's joint staff.

Haj Ahmed Agha came. The quality of the ceasefire was negotiated. Imam said that although they consider the ceasefire decision to be a unique way, they are also upset and some family members are fueling this uneasiness.

I told the public relations of the parliament to invite the representatives and [members of the parliament], experts, the Guardian Council, the Supreme Judicial Council, the government delegation, military and police chiefs, and clerical personalities to the parliament at five o'clock in the afternoon. Dr. Velayati informed that Mr. [Mohammed Jafar] Mahalati in New York gave the message of Mr. Khamenei to the Secretary General of the United Nations and announced the acceptance of the ceasefire. We were supposed to announce it at two o'clock in the afternoon. The General Staff prepared an announcement and the acceptance was supposed to be announced by quoting Mr. Khamenei's news letter.

I reached the parliament at half past three in the afternoon. The global coverage of the news had just begun. There are two types of people's phones. Some express happiness and some express sadness. Mr. Khamenei gave a short speech in the meeting and Mr. Ahmad read the Imam's message and I explained the reason for the Imam's decision. The imam's message is such that it completely deprives the audience of the opportunity to express their opposition, and as a result, no one expressed their displeasure.

I came to my office. Mr. Khamenei and the Prime Minister and [Sayed Mohammad] Khatami also came. The Prime Minister announced that the gold coin has become cheaper by 5000 tomans and the dollar has dropped by 40 tomans in the open market.

Consultation was done to continue the work. I conducted an interview with representatives of the press and radio and television about this and answered their questions. He did the work in my office until ten o'clock in the morning. It has been widely reflected in foreign reports and is generally positive.

Mr. [Mahdi] Karroubi came and warned about the possibility of sabotage and deviant propaganda by some extremists, including some IRGC members, and said that it should be dealt with seriously. If the Imam's message could be read, it would prevent everything, but because the message contains military secrets, it cannot be read, and the Imam is supposed to explain in another message. I came home My family members are also worried about people's disproportionate reaction.