Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 11, 1984

I was at home all day. Around dawn, Mr. Daniyali informed the Prime Minister by phone that at half past five in the morning, the Iraqis attacked Dezful with three missiles. One of the missiles hit Afshar Hospital. Around seven o'clock, they consulted about broadcasting the news. I also consulted with the Prime Minister. It was scheduled to be broadcast and it was.

After meeting with the Imam, the commanders of the army came to our house and said; The imam's opinion is that a similar response from our side should be done with repeated warnings and a 24-hour deadline for people to leave the cities. I also confirmed and informed the situation to the ground force. During a speech in Mashhad, the president said that we will play at four o'clock in the afternoon today. I called them. They insisted on their own opinion and we contacted the Imam again and I told Mashhad about the Imam's emphasis on the deadline, and it was agreed that he should officially announce tomorrow morning.

I spoke with [Colonel Hoshang Sediq] the commander of the air force to light up the atmosphere of Basra tonight. He said, there is danger. We gave up. We discussed with the commanders of the IRGC about the future operations and the time of their announcement.

Ahmad Agha, who had read the Imam's detailed message at today's [Bahman 22 march], came to our house at lunch and said that the number of marchers was very large and unprecedented. The counter-revolution asked the people not to come out of their homes and this huge gathering is a good popular approval for the revolution.

Around noon, they reported that the Iraqis had fired two more rockets at Dezful at 11:00 AM. In total, we have had about 8 martyrs and 100 wounded. It is strange that five missiles were hit in one city; Although they have threatened eleven cities.

In the evening, Mr. [Abd al-Majid] Maadikhah came and asked for help regarding the activation of the foundation for compiling the history of the revolution. Efat and Fati went to see the exhibition of the works of art of the ladies of the [Islamic Republic] party and returned with Mrs. Motahari and Mrs. Iraqi. Then they went to Esteghlal Hotel to participate in the final ceremony of the Fajr decade foreign guests program.

Tonight, the news of an infiltration operation into Iraqi territory near the Darbandikhan Dam was spread. If we take the dam, a huge economic and psychological problem will be brought to Iraq. Iraq will probably express a brutal reaction. We have advanced 15 kilometers without encountering any obstacles and have reached the east of the dam lake. We have neutralized the Iraqi helicopters and captured several of them.