Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 13, 1987

I came to the parliament at nine o'clock in the morning. [Mr. Mohammad Javad Irvani] Minister of [Economic Affairs and] Wealth came. He talked about the possible foreign exchange problems this year and informed that for this reason they have reduced the defense foreign exchange quota. The ambassador of Denmark, the ambassador of Sweden and the ambassador of Cuba came separately and talked about the development of relations. The Danish ambassador for Canada asked for the development of relations and further cooperation in fishing was discussed. Discussed with the ambassador of Sweden about the development of relations with England and helping to rescue "Terry Witt" and the Iranian abductees in Lebanon, and with the ambassador of Cuba about the new move of the Soviet Union in the Persian Gulf. In the afternoon [officials] of public relations [of the Islamic Shura] came for the program of the Majlis week.

The members of the delegation came between the assemblies and reported on the trip and actions in Nicaragua. In the evening, the Board of Governors had a meeting. As usual, the weekly programs of the parliament and important matters of work are reviewed and decided in the meetings of the board of directors. Today, Iraq has attacked two refineries in Isfahan and Tabriz. The damage was small, but it is probably the beginning of the attack on non-industrial centers.

We were guests of Ahmad Agha at Iftar with other heads of forces. Imam came to the meeting after breaking the fast. Mr. President and I reported on the visit of the Syrian Foreign Minister. Imam suggested that the action of the Soviets was due to the fear of our attention to America. Today's bombing of Iraq is Saddam's reaction to the displeasure of the United Nations delegation's report on Iraq's use of chemical weapons and the lack of evidence for Iran's use of chemical weapons.

I gave a report on the state of war. The Imam expressed his regret for the poor morale of some commanders and praised some of them and agreed to say something for the mobilization of the forces. The discussion of the meeting was about shortages and high prices.

Mr. [Mirhossein Mousavi] the Prime Minister, while presenting a report of the shortages and problems, demanded extraordinary powers to control the rates and reform the distribution situation. Mr. Khamenei and Mousavi Ardabili agreed to use an expert group for planning and implementation, which the prime minister did not accept and Ahmad Agha doubted the effectiveness of the measures. Finally, through the approval of the parliament, it was decided to act for the authority to set rates and punish the hoarders and high sellers.