Early in the morning at Parliament, I read several verses from Surah Al Imran concerning the Battle of Uhud. They bore a striking resemblance to the martyrs of the night before last—Mr. Beheshti, Hamza, and the others [of the Muslim army].
Early in the morning at Parliament, I read several verses from Surah Al Imran concerning the Battle of Uhud. They bore a striking resemblance to the martyrs of the night before last—Mr. Beheshti, Hamza, and the others [of the Muslim army]. We held a meeting of the presiding board. It became clear that twenty-seven members of Parliament had been martyred so far, while the remaining martyrs, bringing the total to seventy-three, were members of the judiciary and government apparatus (four ministers and several deputies) as well as members of the Islamic Republican Party. We have nine wounded representatives in hospitals.
People had gathered around Parliament from early morning for the funeral procession of the martyrs and were mourning. Mohammad-Reza Beheshti [the son of the martyred Dr. Beheshti] came to my office, and after much discussion, they finally decided to bury him in Behesht-e Zahra, rather than take him to Isfahan or Qom. It is a sensible decision.
At eight in the morning, I spoke for an hour from the balcony of Parliament to the enormous and unprecedented crowd. The people’s emotions were extraordinary, and the crowd set off toward Behesht-e Zahra. The members of Parliament praised my speech with amazement and said that it had a significant effect in strengthening the morale of the revolutionary forces and discouraging the enemies. They were particularly impressed by my self-control despite all these tragedies, dangers, and responsibilities.
Reporters say that there had never been such a crowd since the victory of the Revolution. Because of the congestion, many of the bodies, including the body of Ayatollah Beheshti, could not be taken to the cemetery until evening.
Fati came back from Behesht-e Zahra and reported that the people had arrested several terrorists there with grenades and firearms.
Members of the Judicial Council and Mr. Mahdavi-Kani came to my office, and decisions were made regarding the elections. At noon, Mr. Rajaei came to my office. We had lunch together and discussed current affairs.
Engineer [Ezzatollah] Sahabi came and spoke about the change in the Freedom Movement’s position and about Dr. [Yadollah] Sahabi and Engineer [Mehdi] Bazargan’s inclination to attend Parliament. I agreed to ensure their security and respect, and they were to come to Parliament tomorrow and end their boycott.
In the afternoon, I visited the site of the bomb explosion and the ruined hall of the Party. I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling. Then I went to visit the wounded at Torfeh Hospital and visited Mr. Khamenei. His condition had improved, but it was still not reassuring, particularly because I did not know how he would endure the heavy psychological and emotional blow of hearing that so many of his comrades had been martyred. May God have mercy. He still did not know about the martyrdom of his friends, and they advised everyone to keep it from him.
I stopped by Mr. Beheshti’s home. I came home early. I watched the extraordinary demonstrations taking place throughout the country on television until midnight. It was a source of consolation.
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