Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 26, 1986

I went to the parliament, but I did not participate in the public meeting to deal with war matters. Mr. Yazdi chaired the meeting. In the south - on the Faw front - the enemy did not move at all. He was hit in a fight last night.

In the northern front, our forces were advancing and consolidating positions. The enemy does not show any reaction or resistance, and it is very strange, and so far he has not even reported the attack in the north. Either they have a problem inside themselves, or because of the severe blows they have received, they have lost their balance so much that they don't know what to do, or they are preparing for another move.

Abul Fazl's camp was prepared in the south, but the wind was not appropriate and they did not act and waited for the wind. In the north, there is still a difference of opinion between Sayad [Shirazi] and the IRGC, and they are losing some time and opportunity. Sayad does not want to put the army forces under the command of the IRGC and wants to act independently. [Colonel Sayad Shirazi] came in the evening, I justified him. The army has its own policy and wants to show its strength.

In the afternoon, Mr. Erfani, the representative of Talash, came. He is upset about taking the land from the sharia judge of Tehran municipality. Mr. Atayi came to represent Sanandaj. He had brought information from London about the influence that the tyranny and counter-revolutionary elements have in our foreign purchases. I told him to give a written report.

At night, we were the guests of Mr. [Ayatollah] Khamenei with other heads of forces. We talked about the future of war. The discussion was that now that an important part of Iraq like Faw is in our hands and Iraq's connection with the sea is cut off, it is better to accept the ceasefire and use this leverage to take our rights and Saddam's fall through trial, or to continue the war until Saddam goes. We didn't get anywhere. It was decided to discuss next week in the presence of Ayatollah Montazeri and in the service of Imam.

News came from Lebanon that the guerrillas want to announce that they have executed a French hostage in revenge for the handover of two Iraqi Muslims to Iraq by France. It seems that he died before, but it was not announced. Mr. Velayati [Foreign Affairs Minister], who was going to Geneva to participate in the disarmament conference, consulted.