Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 12, 1983

Early in the morning, Dr. [Abbas] Sheibani came, and I obtained an Imam visitation card for him for the other members of the congress who had not met with the Imam. I spoke with the president by telephone, and it was decided that the meeting we have tonight would be at the Imam's office. I sent the approval of the qualifications of the candidates for the [Central] Council of the [Islamic Republic] Party to the congress through Mr. [Abbas] Sheibani. The commission for verifying the qualifications, consisting of me, [Ayatollah] Mr. Khamenei, and Mr. Rabbani Amolashi, has approved the qualifications.

Mehdi came with several of his classmates who had returned from the front, with the school's permission, to meet the Imam and then came to meet me. I picked the mint from the garden, most of which is the product of my own cultivation, for drying, and spent most of my time studying. I have been tired and somewhat depressed for several days.

Mr. Velayati, the foreign minister, informed me by telephone that the foreign ministers of Kuwait and the Emirates want to come to Iran. They also want to meet with the president and me to talk about the war and oil. At night, we had a meeting with the top officials at the Imam's office. We decided how to negotiate with the two ministers who are coming.

Mr. Hadi gave his report on his trip and negotiations with the Saudi foreign minister; they want to have good relations. They negotiated about oil, the struggle against Israel, relations with Iraq, and the Hajj, and it was agreed that they would continue. News came that the Iraqis had fired missiles at Andimeshk and Dezful, and a number of people had been martyred and wounded. We also discussed this matter. It was raised that the way to prevent [the missile attacks] was retaliation, that we should also strike Iraqi cities;   but the Imam is opposed. I came home late.