Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 21, 1984

After the morning prayer, we had a meeting with the commanders and officials of the four camps. Each of them spoke separately and most of them in some way opposed the operation and presented arguments. After them, I spoke and while thanking them for their reminders, I spoke about the impossibility of studying all the facilities they wanted. Then, for another meeting, I went to the mosque of the barracks, which was attended by the commanders of the operating divisions and brigades. In this meeting, no one spoke; Only Mr. Sayad [Shirazi] welcomed me and I spoke in detail and mostly explained the same contents of the previous meeting and encouraged to use full effort. We came back to the brigade commander's office and sat down to negotiate with the main officials of the camps. Almost all the audience, including the army and the army, expressed their disapproval. Only Mr. Sayad [Shirazi] agreed to defend himself and Mohsen Rezaei, who apparently agreed, was silent.

This resistance [in carrying out the operation] by the army was also in the Khyber operation, but the army has found such a situation in this operation. It may have deep roots; must be discovered. I decided to discuss their content with Mr. [Ayatollah] Khamenei and the Imam in Tehran, and then continue the discussion in Tehran or there; But it was ordered that the effort to prepare according to the mission should continue.

We had lunch on the plane and I arrived at Majlis [Islamic Council] at three o'clock [in the afternoon]. I rested for a while and then read the reports. At six o'clock in the afternoon, I had a meeting with Mr. [Hans Dietrich] Genscher, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany; We talked about war, human rights and economic relations. [Also] we had a press interview with German journalists.

In the first night, the president came and I discussed the situation of the front and negotiations with him. We decided to discuss the matter with the imam for the final decision, and I talked to Ahmad Agha on the phone and we made an appointment for Monday. Ahmad Agha was upset that the Western media had magnified the issue of human rights in the [West] German foreign minister's talks and said that it should be countered.