Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – December 26, 1986

At first, it became clear that nothing was done in the continuation of the operation last night and Umm al-Rasas was also evacuated, and even though they said last night that they wanted to move forward, they returned to the original location. It turns out that they do not have a proper coordination. I informed Ayatollah Khamenei not to raise anything in today's Friday prayer before receiving the correct information. It was unexpected for them.

Col. Jamali, the deputy commander of the ground forces, came from the west and said that Iraq has strengthened their target area and there was a lot of bombing yesterday, and due to the power cut in the area, there were problems in the supply of troops, and he claimed that Iraq was aware of the plan. I told them to wait for the time being until the task of the operation below is clear.

The commanders of the IRGC informed that they are busy summarizing to make a decision, considering the situation and will come here after the investigation. I walked alone for a while by the residence building and thought. The failure of the operation, with all the facilities and advertisements we had, is very bitter. The enemy will use this situation a lot. If we can compensate, it is good, but the morale is down and the morale of the enemy is up.

Dr. Hadi and Dr. Rouhani came. They criticized the operation management. Usually, in situations of failure, heartaches rise. They gave the number of injured: about three to four thousand people; As a rule, we have a fifth of this number of martyrs. They reported that today the enemy is in the area, on the surface

He has used a large number of chemical bombs. [Anti-aircraft missile] Hawk, which had just been put into operation, was disabled after being hit, and they do not have a proper defense.

Mr. [Ferydoun] Mahdinejad came. He said that the Americans have informed that they have prepared a new plan for the issue of hostages. We consulted. It seems that under this pretext, they want the process of negotiations not to be interrupted. We told him to say that there is no need for a new plan and that the same arrangement as before should be implemented.

In the evening, the army commanders came. They were upset about the failure of the operation. They said the new program. Instead of one big attack, they proposed three smaller attacks. It was discussed and approved at the headquarters. Mr. [Gholamali] Rashid, [Deputy IRGC Operations], was against it. It was decided that they will tell the time until tomorrow night. The armies went to the west and the sepahis to the south. We also asked for a plane that came from Tehran. We flew to Tehran at ten o'clock in the evening. I arrived home at twelve o'clock at night.