Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 22, 1984

After morning prayer, I read the reports. The issue of the use of chemical weapons by the Iraqis and their false propaganda about the islands is still an issue of the day.

Dr. [Hadi] Manafi [Minister of Health] came and we talked about the martyrdom of his son. The security guards came for Eid. I wrote the text of the Arabic sermon for the Friday prayer.

I went to Shahid Labafinejad hospital to visit the chemical bomb victims. About seventy people were hospitalized there. I met and negotiated with everyone. Two or three people are in serious condition and the rest have superficial injuries. Most of them have burns in wet parts of the body such as armpits, groin, lungs and eyes, and burns on the face and hands, and they are recovering. Little by little, they have become familiar with protecting themselves [against chemical bombs]; Its effect has decreased. So far, about two thousand seven hundred people have been injured and forty people have been martyred, and about half of them have returned to the front. Several people were also injured during the manipulation of unexploded bombs. The chemically injured people insisted that we also make and use chemical bombs.

It rained a lot today; Considering the little rain, it is a source of happiness. In the evening and at night at home, I was studying about the issue of racial discrimination - which will be the subject of future Friday sermons in the field of social justice. At night, I called the Najaf headquarters. There is also heavy rain. I told Mr. [Mohsen] Rezaei [commander of IRGC] to prepare to take foreign journalists to Majnoon Islands.