Don't interfere.

At that time, there was no Expediency Discernment Council. The council that Imam had mentioned consisted of five people: Mr. Hashemi, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Supreme Leader who was the President at the time, Mr. Mousavi who was the Prime Minister, Ayatollah Mousavi Ardabili, the head of the Supreme Court, and myself as the Attorney General.

Depending on the discussions, we would also invite the relevant minister, for example, Mr. Mohsen Rezaei was invited for discussions related to the war, and Mr. Velayati for foreign policy issues. Haj Ahmad Agha also participated, but some discussions were not brought up there.

For example, the McFarlane affair was not discussed there. Only Haj Ahmad Agha, Mr. Hashemi, and Imam knew about it. Anyone who says Imam didn't know is lying... Initially, it was decided not to mention it and only Mr. Hashemi and Ahmad Agha were to be in the loop. Since I was very close to Ahmad Agha, he would sometimes tell me a little about very confidential matters. I had smelled something was up but didn't know all the details.

Mr. Reyshahri was the Minister of Intelligence and had come across some information. He had written a letter to Imam because he felt responsible and had mentioned that such negotiations were taking place... Initially, Imam had told him not to interfere. The incident with Mehdi Hashemi, Ayatollah Montazeri's son-in-law's brother, had occurred, and he had leaked these issues.

It was said that through Lebanese forces or Qaddafi, some matters about these negotiations had been mentioned. Eventually, one day a magazine in Lebanon had written something that prompted Ayatollah Reyshahri to write again to Imam. Imam had then again told him not to interfere.

But Imam had wanted Ayatollah Khamenei and Engineer Mir Hossein Mousavi to be aware of the negotiations and had wanted them to ensure that these discussions did not end to the detriment of the regime. There are always some who are not there and are not aware and might distort history.

When McFarlane came to Iran, he brought some weapons as part of Iran's claims from America and had also brought a letter from Reagan, the President of the United States. He had also brought a Bible signed by the President of the United States.

Imam, Ayatollah Hashemi, Ayatollah Khamenei, and Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ayatollah Mousavi Ardabili had been ordered not to have high-level meetings, but two deputies from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had met him at the Hilton Hotel. The operation was neutralized from the start. I think if it had continued sensibly and with Imam's views and without creating a fuss, progress could have been made.

Note: The Lebanese weekly Al-Shiraa on November 3, 1986, revealed the visit of an American delegation led by Robert McFarlane, the National Security Advisor, to Iran. Some analysts considered the publication of this news following the arrest of Seyed Mehdi Hashemi - Ayatollah Montazeri's son-in-law's brother - due to his illegal actions, as a pressure tactic for his release. Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani officially announced the McFarlane news on November 5, 1986.

Hamshahri Newspaper, an interview with Majid Mehrabi and Mohsen Toulai with Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, November 12, 2018, article code: 37130