Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 16, 1981

Effat had a fever. I left the house. The Parliament had a public session. The two-motion urgency of the bill on the political incompetence of the President, its rules of procedure, and the continuation of the discussion on incorporating the Revolutionary Courts into the Judiciary were on the agenda, and the session was sensitive and political. Thank God, I managed to control it well.

The Hezbollahis had gathered around the Parliament and were demonstrating, demanding that action be taken more quickly to remove Mr. Bani-Sadr. During the recess, I spoke with them. They were chanting strong slogans against Mr. Bani-Sadr.

In the afternoon, we also had a session to answer questions that had been addressed to the ministers. There had been so many questions that there had not been an opportunity to answer them, and this was contrary to the Constitution. Since I was tired, I handed over the running of the session to Mr. Parvaresh. There was a problem with arranging the agenda, which brought the proceedings to a halt, and the session was adjourned.

In the afternoon, the Command Council of the Revolutionary Guards came and proposed that the Council of Command of the Armed Forces, which would probably be formed after the removal of Mr. Bani-Sadr, consist of two military officers and one member of the Revolutionary Guards. They proposed Colonel Namjou, Colonel Fakouri, and Mohsen Rezaei. It was decided that we would speak with the Imam.

In the afternoon and evening, we had a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office with the Cultural Revolution Headquarters. We discussed the universities’ program and the assignment of responsibilities—there are currently problems between the Cultural Revolution Headquarters, the Academic Jihad, and the Ministry of Science, with overlaps in duties and authorities having arisen. Unfortunately, the Headquarters still has no clear program for the universities.

In the afternoon, news came that Mr. Bani-Sadr intended to flee or go to the West or the South—probably to plot something. The Revolutionary Guards were ordered by the Imam to prevent him from traveling. However, Mr. Bani-Sadr had been moved from where he was to another location and was no longer under surveillance. It was said that he was somewhere around Saveh.

Late at night, we had a consultative meeting with Messrs. Rajai and Beheshti, and discussed, to some extent, the presidential election after Mr. Bani-Sadr. We had dinner there.

I came home late. Unfortunately, Effat still had a fever and had been given a Novalgin injection. The news of the victory of the Revolutionary Guards and the Army in Dehlavieh is encouraging, although apparently it is not very significant.