Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 17, 1984

I was at home all day. Mr. Emami Kashani led the Friday prayer. Most of my time was spent reading the script of Haj Sheikh Fadlullah Noori's film. It was prepared by the Islamic Propaganda Organization and they asked me to read it for consultation. He questioned the principle of the constitution and considered the root of the work to be English. It may be harmful in this way. There are other problems as well. I asked the president over the phone about the situation of the fronts. They said that the air force hit the city of Ali in the west of Iraq. It should be limited to hitting the city of Basra with a ball so as not to provoke Iraq further and justify its actions like this.

At noon Ahmad Agha came; He brought some bread and dried berries as a gift. We talked a bit about the war and he suggested that now that the Iraqis have announced that they will not attack our cities for a week, it is good that we do not attack them either.

Mr. Sheikh al-Islam called from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and informed that Sheikh Ragheb Harb was assassinated and martyred in southern Lebanon. We were very impressed; Imam Juma was militant and zealous. It is as if the enemies of Islam have decided to eliminate the militant clerics of Shia in Lebanon. Two or three days ago, our ambassador in Syria, Mr. Mohtashmi, was assassinated and he died.

They informed the prime minister that they have received information from Kuwait that camps have been set up for the refugees of Basra as a result of our shelling. [Ayatollah] Mr. Khamenei also called and it was agreed that they will come to our house tomorrow morning to [examine] war issues. I listened to the news of the war. Today, we have made progress in changuleh. I was saddened by the scene of the Iraqi dead.