Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 22, 1983

We had arranged to go to Nowshahr with Mr. Mousavi Ardabili for some rest. Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the Prime Minister, said there was a secluded place there; Mr. Abolhassan Elahdashti, the representative of Nowshahr, also invited us. The Revolutionary Guards went ahead to wait at Nowshahr Airport. At 3:30 in the afternoon, Mr. Mousavi Ardabili and I departed from Mehrabad Airport. The weather was bad, and the plane experienced turbulence. Some members of our families were with us. At the airport, the Friday prayer leader, the city's representative, and a group of Revolutionary Guards came to welcome us. We were taken to the promised accommodation. It turned out that it was part of the Shah's palace garden that had been separated off and was being used as a Revolutionary Guards headquarters. Another part had been turned into a naval academy.

From the very beginning, it became clear that it would not be possible to rest there; because the Guards and the city officials would not leave us alone, and they did not have suitable accommodations for the family either. We spent the entire evening in conversation, and our lodging was the Revolutionary Guards' library hall.

The Guards reported on their situation and asked for more assistance to combat forest terrorism. I told them the issue was not very serious and that by organizing the Basij in the villages on the edge of the forest, they could suppress them. They said they were not even being given the resources for that. The Friday prayer leader, the Revolutionary Guards, and others raised the issues of disagreements among the region's clerics, divided into two camps: conservatives and radicals.

They took the children to see the Enghelab Hotel—the former Hyatt—and said it was very luxurious. The Guards complained about the carelessness of the female travelers.