Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 5, 1984

I called the front early in the morning. The enemy's path to the island has started, but the defense is good. We have the problem of transporting and supplying troops on the island. I managed a part of the public meeting and came to my office to do the rest of the work. I read the reports. The international atmosphere has improved a little.

By sending the injured people of chemical bombs to Austria and Sweden, Western news circles have paid attention to Saddam's crime in using chemical weapons in the war. In the afternoon Mr. [Mohammed Ali] Najafi [Minister of Culture and Higher Education] came and criticized the administration system of the [Islamic] Azad University. Mr. Engineer [Ezzatullah] Sahabhi came and criticized the government.

He claimed to be suffocating and said that the majority of the people are not with the government and considered the high price to be the result of the stubbornness of the people in front of the government. He also had a negative opinion about the war. It is influenced by the propaganda of enemies. I was sad that they have the same spirit of Benisadr's time.

In the evening, the ambassadors of Finland, Sweden, East Germany and New Zealand came and we had discussions with each of them. We gave the media the news of the negotiations with the Swedish ambassador to bring up the victims of chemical bombs. I inquired about the state of the front. They are not free from worries. They defend the island well. But the pressure from Iraq is also high. I went home at the end of the night. Mr. Mohsen Rezaei came after the meeting with the Imam and doubted whether the Khyber operation could be continued there. The total number of martyrs and prisoners of the operation was about 3 thousand 500 people.