Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 28, 1981

At eight-thirty in the morning, together with Mr. Khamenei, we went to visit the Imam. At the Imam's office, we met Dr. [Ebrahim] Yazdi and the governors of Ilam and Hamadan. During the visit with the Imam, I presented the report on Khuzestan and asked the Imam to pay more attention to his responsibility as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and complained about the inactivity at the fronts—which has exasperated our forces—and that 175 mm artillery guns were not being provided to the army in Abadan so they could retaliate against attacks on cities.

I asked the Imam for help regarding a solution to the problem of determining the status of land, trade, industries, etc., in Parliament; he did not offer any effective guidance.

Mr. Khamenei disclaimed responsibility due to the fact that, according to the law, he could not exercise effective supervision over the army, and asked the Imam to personally devote more attention to guiding the war and the army. The Imam asked him to provide sufficient information so that he could make appropriate decisions. Mr. Khamenei once again pointed out the detriment of removing Colonel [Sayyad] Shirazi, but the Imam deemed the matter unimportant.

Mr. [Fakhreddin] Hejazi and the son of the director of the Fiat company from Italy—who had converted to Islam—came to visit the Imam and spoke about the needs of Islamic students abroad.

Afterwards, I had some discussions with Ahmad Aqa. Ahmad Aqa wanted to understand what we would ultimately do about Mr. Banisadr. I said that if he is content to be president within the framework of the Constitution and does not misuse the office of the presidency against legal bodies, we can tolerate him; our general policy is moving toward Islam, and anyone who possesses Islamic qualification can be our colleague. He was concerned that the revolutionary forces were pessimistic toward him [Banisadr]. I said it was necessary for him to adopt a clear stance.

On the way back from the Imam's house to Parliament, we were accompanied by Mr. [Mahmoud] Do'ai. He spoke about the financial problems of the Ettela'at newspaper; it is planned to add five rials to its price.

The new Palestinian ambassador came to Parliament for a meeting and suggested greater cooperation with us. I asked him to act more revolutionarily and not compromise with reactionaries. He was fearful about the situation in southern Lebanon.