Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 18, 1985

After the [morning] prayer, I asked the front about the quality of the retreat. Mr. Rezaei said [the forces] have completely retreated in an orderly manner, but some of the [military] equipment has been left, and some [of these equipment] have been destroyed so that they do not fall into the hands of the enemies. About one hundred to two hundred people may have [left].

[In the Islamic Shura] before the order, I gave the news of withdrawal to the representatives. They were stigmatized like me. After breathing, I came to my office.

In the afternoon, the news came that the third ground-to-ground missile hit the newly built building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad. The sound of the explosion disrupted the celebration that the Saddamites had started [for the withdrawal of Iranian forces], and [the sound of the rocket explosion] was broadcast on the radio along with the speaker's voice [of the ceremony]. I called the camp a few times and helped them in boosting their morale and organizing [the front's] affairs.

Mr. Zairi and Mr. Azizi referred to the issue of the currency of the Inter-Majlis delegation, and Mr. [Hasan] Rohani referred to the issues of the Front. I spoke with Mr. [Mohammed Hasan] Zouragh about the [publishing] of the announcement of the record of the Badr operation.

In the evening, I participated in the [Islamic Shura Council] public meeting and with great effort I finished the budget review and resolved the problem that had arisen between Mr. Yazdi and the proposers of establishing an office for the representatives in the constituencies.

In the evening, while [we were] in the parliament, the sound of anti-aircraft guns was heard; It turned out that three Iraqi planes have violated Tehran's airspace. It was said that one of them was shot down and [Iraqi planes] could not cause any damage. They dropped their bombs in the desert.

I worked in my office until nine o'clock [at night]. Mr. Rafiq Doost called from Libya and said that the [purchased] missiles will arrive [in the country] tomorrow and suggested that it would be appropriate to launch a missile [into Baghdad] while King Hussein [King of Jordan] and [Hosni] Mubarak [Egyptian President] are in Baghdad.

At night, I came home. On the phone with the president and prime minister and Ahmad Agha and... I talked about the war. Iraq has announced that it will make Iran's airspace unsafe for passenger planes; We also made indirect threats.