Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 31, 1985

Because Baghdad was supposed to be attacked by missiles at midnight, last night there was a strong possibility that Iraqi planes would invade Tehran's airspace - according to the past routine, they would come a little after the missiles hit - and I was expecting anti-aircraft noise, but there was no news.

The morning before we announced the missile attack on Baghdad, American radio broadcasted the news of the explosion in Baghdad. Before noon, Mr. Haj Youssef, one of the soldiers who went to Geneva to buy weapons, came and claimed that America is ready to sell us the F4 plane and the Phoenix missile and the necessary parts in the form of a company. I said that there is no problem, buy it. Our weapons are mostly American and we buy their equipment from wherever we can - except Israel. Of course, the possibility of deception in their offer is high. I told the central bank to announce the existence of purchase support in London.

Mr. Ahmad Agha came and we discussed that since Iraq has not done any major mischief in the last twenty-four hours, it is good to announce the cessation of attacks on the cities, unless new mischief starts from Iraq's side. I also announced to the [Islamic Republic of Iran] news agency that they should prepare a statement, but at noon, Akhvi Mohammad said on the phone that since some central cities have been invaded, it is better to wait. The war of the cities and similar confrontations are not compatible with our spirit and we use every opportunity to stop it.

In the evening, a group of radio and television officials came and discussed the propaganda line in the current situation and in case the crisis of urban attacks escalates, and especially if Iraq uses the SS12 missile - which is a weak possibility.

Faezeh and Mona came home this evening. Hamid and Saeed [Lahoti] have gone to the north. In the evening, it was decided that the statement of stopping the attack on the cities would be read from the media. The propaganda policy is to show our unwillingness to attack cities, but the Iraqis launched an unsuccessful air attack on Tehran, as a result of which we stopped announcing the cessation of attacks. After midnight, they attacked Khazaneh area in the south of Tehran again, which resulted in the martyrdom of 13 people and the injury of around 100 people.

two