Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 31, 1984

Friday Imam of Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei, performed the Friday prayer himself. Ahmad Agha came at ten in the morning. He criticized our stagnant advertising about the hijacked passenger plane; I also confirmed. We told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appoint a person responsible for following up on the situation and making news and keeping the case alive and putting pressure on the international forums and not to pay attention to the advice of the United Nations that we should not make noise. Instead of being held accountable for participating in the plane hijacking, Iraq is making a propaganda maneuver by taking passengers on a pilgrimage.

For lunch, we were guests of Mr. Hossein Rouhani in Karaj. Mr. [Mousavi] Ardabili was also there with his family. We went with the children; We stayed there in Mr. Tahririan's garden until the evening.

Finally, we visited the huge bridge that spans the Karaj River - which makes the road closer to [Tehran-] Chalus travelers and also reduces Karaj traffic. The span of the bridge is three hundred meters. Only four columns are used for the foundations of the bridge. The city engineer, the executive of the project, said that only four bridges like it have been designed in the world, and with the completion of their experience, it is nearing the end. Its work continues since 1357.

At night, we had a meeting in the office with the president and Mr. Sayad Shirazi and [Mohsen] Rezaei. Each of them explained their comprehensive plans for the war. Mr. Sayad's plan was doubted; He was a little upset. I arrived home late.