Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 16, 1982

After the dawn prayer, I wrote up yesterday's recollections and obtained the news from Iran: the Mujahedin-e Khalq kidnapped three guards, tortured them with indescribable cruelty, buried two of them alive after torture, and were soon caught and confessed to their crime. This incident has had a strange effect on the people and has generated hatred.

Ayatollah [Mohammadreza] Golpayegani, who fell in the bath and broke his pelvis, has been transferred to Tehran for treatment.

We had breakfast at our own embassy in Delhi and met with the embassy staff. We went to the cultural centre and spoke to the students. A wedding ceremony was held for two students. Afterwards, we went to the Agricultural Research Institute, where they explained the stages of agricultural development and we saw the farms.

In the evening, I held a press conference. About seventy journalists attended, and I answered questions on the war, the Non-Aligned Movement, terrorism, the economy, and so on.

At six in the evening, we went to the airport to depart for Iran. The Speaker of Parliament saw us off. He presented several albums of photographs from the visit to India. The aeroplane had developed another fault and was delayed for two hours. Unfortunately, there were several problems with the aircraft on this trip. We set off late at night. After taking off, the sunset appeared and we were accompanied by it right up to the Iranian border. At Tehran airport, the Foreign and Defence Ministers, among others, had come to meet us.

We gave an interview and came home. The funeral of the martyrs from the Mujahedin-e Khalq tragedy, which was held with great pomp today, is the talk of the town.