Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 1, 1984

After stopping the operation, we rested and asked the commanders for a summary and a new decision. The camp in Karbala was unsuccessful in its operation for the second time, but it was ready for the next night. Unlike the previous time, he had completely given up on acting in an unsuccessful position.

In the meeting of the commanders, the plan for the coming night and the operating forces were determined, and it was reported that the enemy, fearful of last night's victory, has launched a large-scale counter-attack and the first wave has been repulsed.

Until around noon, Iraqi planes penetrated around the camp several times and the defense of the camp was effective. We guessed that the enemy knows about my presence in the camp - through the control of phones or spies. Therefore, we came to the camp of Khatam al-Anbia, which is far from the enemy's firing range.

Mr. Colonel Jalali, the commander of Havaniroz, came. I wanted a report to be prepared about the pilots who failed or disobeyed during the helicopter flight to the islands. He brought a report, but preferred to postpone it until after the operation; I accepted

The Health Corps gave the number of wounded in the Najaf camp until the end of the 8th of March, about four thousand people. He has not given any statistics of the martyrs. There are about a thousand people injured by chemical bombs, most of whom have been treated.

After praying, without eating lunch, I slept to get rid of last night's fatigue. After sleeping, they reported that the pressure of the enemy's artillery is high in Talaiyeh. They wanted cannon ammunition and artillery fire for an answer. I remitted to the army. We checked the readiness of the units for tonight's operation.

Iraq is scared and has started extensive propaganda. We chose not to advertise too much at this stage. Mr. [Mohammed Hasan] Zoroq, instead of Mr. [Kamal] Kharazi, has assumed the responsibility of war propaganda here. In a meeting, we determined the line of work; Although the failure of the Karbala camp and the lack of deployment of troops along the Tigris, the main objective of the operation is out of reach for the time being, but for the secondary objective, we must have a proper propaganda program. In my mind, I hoped to open the way to end the war with this operation; In such a way that by having strategic points in our hands, in the case of a ceasefire, we can satisfy our own demands, and I thought that the value of all the points that are in the hands of Iraq from Iran's territory is less than the value of the points we captured in the Khyber operation area. From Al-Qarna to Al-Uzair and the way from Basra to Baghdad, as well as the oil-rich area of ​​the Majnoon Islands.

In the evening Mr. Sayad [Shirazi] came and stated once again that he could not cross the channel and break the line, and as before he said that it was impossible to advance in the operation. At the same time, it was reported from other places that last night, after reaching the Golden Bridge, they returned to the place where the operation started and the enemy put a lot of pressure on our forces. Finally, the news came that they returned to their previous position last night. But tonight, an operation will be carried out again in the same place with the same purpose.

The news came that the enemy has poured water in the south of the island. It is a sign of fear from our invasion of the island and unfortunately, the army was not used properly in that position. Last night's operation was delayed due to Mr. [Hossein] Kharazi's disobeying the order to capture the bridge.

Minister of Education [Education] also came and a meeting was held. Two of the IRGC pilots also came. Today we had a boat convoy where four boats and a tugboat were shot and several people were martyred. At night, I talked to the house on the phone. At nine o'clock at night, they informed that our forces had engaged with the enemy. God bless us to succeed. Little by little, the situation is getting difficult.