Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 20, 1989

After prayer and breakfast, Mr. Hedayat [Lotafian], the commander of the army, came. He said about the security issues of the province. I participated in the supply council. I heard the situation report. We were supposed to have strike battalions with helicopter support. It rained well last night and continues. Talk about canceling some programs. We went to Urmia barracks. The morning ceremony was held and I spoke. We returned to the governorate. I had a meeting with academics. They said the needs.

We attended the administrative council meeting. [Mr. Atai] the governor, program and budget manager and the head of the medical school spoke. Parliamentarians also spoke; Mr. [Beitullah] Jafari against the governor and head of the judiciary and ... Mr. [Ali] Abdul Alizadeh in their support. Then I spoke about the need for more mobility in order to criticize natural facilities and give people a platform and cancel cumbersome regulations.

We went to the sports stadium. The families of martyrs and veterans were gathered in the covered hall. I spoke for them. Some of them were chanting against the governor. Apparently, the instigators were the parliamentarians.

It was raining and the ground was wet. The gathering of people was supposed to be on the grass in the sports field. We wanted to bring people inside the hall for Friday prayers and public speeches, but they said that the hall has no capacity. We went outside. Due to the weather on the ground and the poor sound quality, I made a short speech with little content. The crowd was not as expected. We prayed the Friday prayer with Mr. [Gholamreza] Hosni and the evening prayer led by Mr. [Syed Ali Akbar] Qureshi and came to the governorate.

After lunch, Mr. Javaheri, Qazi Sharia, came. He supported [Mr. Atai] the governor [of West Azerbaijan] and spoke about the region. I rested for a while and we had a meeting with Sunni representatives and scholars.

We went to Urmia Lake (Rezaieh) by helicopter. We saw the new construction of the new road and the floating bridge and the performance of the candle. We returned to the airport; Interview and escort and departure to Sanandaj by C-130 plane.

We reached Sanandaj at six o'clock. official interview and welcome and departure to the city; On the way, people gave a warm welcome. I was interested in the kindness of people. We settled in the governorate.

A meeting of the [Kurdistan Province] Security Council was held. It was similar to the negotiations and decisions of Urmia. Dinner was served and then we had a short meeting with Mr. [Sidmosi] Mousavi, the Imam's representative [in the west of the country], who defended the Acting Governor, Mr. [Abdul Hossein] Moghadam [Bagherzadeh] and the Great Islamic Center [in the west of the country]. Then a group of local representatives came. They criticized Mr. Mousavi and Moghadam. I slept late.