Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 5, 1983

I studied at home until nine in the morning. I also helped Effat somewhat in looking after Sara—the daughter of Fati—while she herself had gone to the university. On the occasion of the arrival of the month of Muharram, we went with the clerics to visit the Imam. Mr. [Mohammad Reza] Mahdavi Kani [Secretary-General of the Tehran Combatant Clergy Association] spoke for a while. Mr. Rastgari also recited a lamentation, and the Imam gave extensive advice. I came home. Mr. Masoumi Mashhadi called to say that tomorrow the Shia and Sunni clerics of the border cities around Mashhad would come to the Majlis and wanted to be the Majlis's guests for lunch; I agreed.

In the afternoon, we had a meeting of the presiding board. It was the first meeting after the summer recess. Decisions were made about the schedule of public sessions, administrative matters and the committees, etc. After the evening prayer, the families of two young prisoners of war, [Mehdi] Tahaniyan and [Alireza] Rahimi, who had brought honor in an interview with French television at the Iraqi camp, came. We received them warmly. I gave them gifts, and they gave me a tape of one of their wills. They brought one of their younger children—fourteen years old—who had suffered a brain injury from a blast wave at the front. During the filming, the projector lamp exploded; it made a tremendous noise. I stayed at the Majlis at night, took care of the work and read the reports, and went to sleep early.