Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 29, 1981

We had a long consultative meeting in which we discussed how to announce the disaster, the messages to be issued, and the immediate measures to be taken, and we made several decisions. Reports indicated that more than sixty people had been martyred and more than twenty wounded. I gave a radio address. I went to Parliament, where a number of representatives had gathered and were deeply affected. It was decided to convene Parliament as soon as possible. We declared two days of general closure and one week of public mourning.

At eight-thirty in the morning, I went to see Imam Khomeini with Messrs. [Mohammad-Reza] Mahdavi-Kani, [Akbar] Parvaresh, Rajaei, and Mousavi-Ardebili. The Imam was deeply affected and comforted us. He appointed the head of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor, and asked us to reshuffle the cabinet and reactivate Parliament as soon as possible so that affairs could return to normal.

It was decided that Mr. Rajaei would run for the presidency. I suggested that the government remain in place and that Mr. Khamenei run for president. The Imam did not consider this advisable and believed it would be better for the president not to be a cleric; in the past, for the same reason, we had not had a cleric run for president. Mr. Khamenei’s physical condition following the assassination attempt was another obstacle, of course.

It was decided that Colonel Namjoo, the Imam’s representative on the Supreme Defense Council, would be chosen in place of Dr. Chamran. I returned to the Prime Minister’s Office and attended the Security Headquarters meeting. We discussed how to deal with the rioters and counterrevolutionaries. In the afternoon, members of the Supreme Judicial Council also came. I rested for a while and returned to Parliament.

At Parliament, the representatives gathered, and we discussed the funerals, the transportation of the martyrs’ bodies, and the convening of a plenary session.

In the afternoon, members of the Central Council of the Islamic Republican Party came, and decisions were made to make up for the Party’s losses in personnel.

Mr. Bahonar was elected Secretary-General in place of Mr. Beheshti. We were informed that the bomb explosion might have been carried out by one of the counterrevolutionary agents who had infiltrated the Party. He was currently at large. Ten minutes before the explosion, he had mysteriously left the Party office on some pretext.

I spent the night sleeping at Parliament. Mr. Bahonar also stayed at Parliament. Engineer [Mir-Hossein] Mousavi came and raised the matter of [Mohammad-Reza] Kolahi’s disappearance and the possibility that he was responsible for the explosion. He had fled shortly before the explosion, supposedly to buy ice cream. We are going through difficult days, hours, and indeed moments, and patience, composure, and reliance on God are important sources of strength. The Imam’s effective presence and timely guidance are proving instrumental.