Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 5, 1983

Early in the morning, I did not go to the Majlis. I went to the President's Office. I attended a meeting of the party's Political Bureau. The discussion was about the disruptive activities of the Third Line. We made decisions about how to deal with them; mostly toward winning them over through friendship and affection rather than confrontation. I did not go to the public session. At ten o'clock, I came to my office. Mr. [Seyyed Mahmoud] Doaei [head of the Ettela'at Institute] came. He was deeply upset about the newspaper's suspension. He cried and sought a solution. I said that Mr. Khamenei [Ayatollah] and I had sent messages to the Imam several times; he has become more lenient.

I called again to have it published today if at all possible, but the Imam resisted, and Ahmad Aqa said it might be resolved on Saturday. Mr. Doaei went to the Imam's residence. Many spectators had come to the Majlis, expecting me to speak to them as usual. We have decided that I will not speak. This practice that has become customary takes up a great deal of the Majlis's time. Usually, groups come from all over the country as spectators, and everyone expects the Speaker of the Majlis to give them a speech. It was decided that there should be no such program. They chanted slogans.

Finally, they left upset. The commanders of the Qom Revolutionary Guard came, and we talked. They complained about the crowds and the lack of welfare facilities in Qom, and about the danger of conspiracies by the numerous Iraqi and Afghan migrants and... the Muslim People's Party and the Arab People's Party and... I met with the Basij members of Qom and apologized for not giving a speech. In the afternoon, we had a meeting to revise the party's positions, and then in the Central Council of the [Islamic Republic] Party, we approved the congress bylaws. Late at night, I came home. At night, the party congress organizing committee came, and I spoke with them about having it published.