Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – November 17, 1988

I woke up at half past five in the morning. After the prayer, I caught the BBC news and the [Voice of] America radio. Elections in Pakistan are at the top of the news. It seems [Benazir Bhutto, the leader] of the People's Party is winning and this news could be a major development in Pakistan and the region. Radio America reported the execution of eleven clerics in Iran, including [Fathullah] Omid Najafabadi, that the execution of three clerics is correct, and gave it the color of political differences and mischievously claimed a difference between me and Mr. Montazeri. The usual method of spraying based on lies; While their execution was due to corruption. At eight in the morning, we went to the barracks of the 92nd Division in Ahvaz. I participated in the morning ceremony of the armed forces, which was held jointly, and I spoke to them about the war and the need to prepare and deepen training. The weather was cold. Then, in a mosque next to the barracks, we attended the gathering of the families of the martyrs and I spoke to them about the position of the martyrs and the dignity of the families; It was comforting.

We flew from the barracks to Susangard with several helicopters. On the way, we passed through agricultural lands everywhere. People gave a warm welcome. Before participating in the public meeting, we sat with officials and clerics in a room next to the sports hall and the city mosque. They told the situation of the cities and the needs and damages. There is a lot of war damage in the region. Many agricultural lands have been destroyed. City sewers, schools, villages and rivers have been damaged a lot. There is a risk of flooding and they need a dam.

Then we went to the big gym. Part of its wall was destroyed by a bomb. Khair Moghaddam was said by Friday imam and a poet from the region recited an Arabic poem in praise of me. I spoke in detail to the people about resistance and loyalty and lifting the siege of the city. During the occupation of the region by Iraq, some Arabs had cooperated with Iraq, and therefore people were worried about the region's notoriety. They needed to remove the slander from this point of view.

From there we flew to Dezful. We landed at the fourth base. Formal welcome followed by prayer and then participation in the meeting of city officials in the base hall. The governor said the needs of the city and the shortages and failures. 107 rockets hit the city and 67 rockets hit the surrounding area, the city was bombed about 50 times and 1200 artillery shells landed on the city. 17 thousand residential, commercial and public units were damaged, of which 13 thousand have been reconstructed so far. I contributed five million tomans from the war credit to the city.

After lunch and rest, we went to the city of Dezful and talked with the people in the mosque of the city. There were people gathered in the streets on the way and it was a good community. Friday imam and representative of Khair Moghaddam city said. To see the damaged areas, we toured the streets of the city.

In the evening, we returned to the base: prayer and participation in the gathering of the base personnel and a speech in appreciation and thanks to the air force. We returned to Ahvaz by plane at night. We arrived at the guest house at eight o'clock in the evening. The imams of the cities of the province came on Friday and expressed their content: complaints about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Oil and shortages and a little cultural activity, the weakness of sound and image and the content of radio and television were part of their content.

Then we went to the house of Friday Imam Mr. Jazayeri. A group of his friends were gathered and complained to the governor's office for eliminating the support line of Imam Juma. We returned to the guest house at half past ten. I was tired I fell asleep early.

Efat called me to arrange his trip to Shiraz to participate in Hafez's ceremony. I told the governor to tell the police to reduce the ceremonies on the streets. There was a large force of gendarmerie and police in the streets to maintain security. At the dinner table, we talked about possible developments in Pakistan after the elections; I don't have a clear picture.