Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 22, 1982

I stayed home. For the class on the positions of the [Islamic] Republican Party and the Friday prayer sermons, I did some reading on the revival of barren land (Ihya al-Mawat) and land appropriation (Hiyazat); I also read a bit about the Persian Gulf countries. I conducted work by phone. Some time was also spent watering the lawn, tending to the garden, and planting mint seedlings.

In the afternoon, Ahmad Aqa came, and we discussed several issues. I spoke on the phone with the Prime Minister regarding the customs obstructionism in clearing raw materials for industries and the banks' procrastination in granting loans to factories. I also inquired by phone about Mr. Khamenei's health; his hand is in pain. I fed mulberry leaves to Yaser's silkworms.

Late at night, I received news from the southern front. It became clear that our forces are scheduled to launch an attack to complete the encirclement of Khorramshahr and capture the dirt roads and Iraq's bridge over the Shatt al-Arab; they asked for prayers.

Mr. [Mir-Hossein] Mousavi, the Prime Minister, called and said that this morning, Iraq launched an airstrike on our liquefied gas plant in Mahshahr, damaging a portion of the factory. I said that the defense officials must be disciplined, because in Mahshahr, we have Hawk [missiles], Oerlikons, and various other anti-aircraft weapons, as well as F-14 [fighter jets] in the air.