Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 14, 1986

I reached the parliament early in the morning. From the reports, it seems that the Iraqis, with the cooperation of the news centers, are trying to neutralize the effects of the Fatah 1 operation and are denying it by creating a scene. Mr. Abdullah Nouri came and said that Ayatollah Montazeri closed the meetings in response to the arrest of Seyed Mehdi Hashemi's group.

While I was in the public meeting, I had many references from the representatives in this regard. There has been a great concern among the representatives who have been informed.

I quickly returned to my office. A group of pilots came from Nojeh base. They raised their demands: mortgages, more privileges, not opposing the travel of pilots abroad, not banning some people from flying due to suspicion, etc.

A group of personnel from Imam Hussain's army came, whose meeting with the Imam had been canceled. I spoke for them and the staff of Nojeh Air Base. A group of representatives came and were worried about Mr. Montazeri's current issues and asked me to go to Qom myself. I accepted I also consulted with Mr. Ahmad Agha and Mr. [Ayatollah] Khamenei on the phone.

Mr. Hosni Saadi [commander of the army's ground forces] informed that last night a limited operation was carried out by the army in the western front and it was successful.

Mr. [Mortaza] Bani Fazl from Qom told about the issue of Mr. Montazeri, the suspension of meetings and spreading the news, and the discomfort of the students, and asked me to solve the problem. Mr. Ahmad Agha expressed his displeasure that some people blamed him and falsely prevented Mr. Montazeri's meeting with the Imam. He is right, because he is doing the most for Mr. Montazeri's credit.

I left for Qom at three in the afternoon. We reached Mr. Montazeri's house near evening. We lingered a little behind the door. It appeared that he was determined not to accept anyone, but in front of my presence, they were forced to accept. Later I found out that they were already informed and waiting. They said that they did not accept Mr. [Ebrahim] Amini.

I was with them until nine o'clock at night. After dinner, I returned to Tehran. Mr. Sidhadadi also participated in the negotiations. They are offended by the Imam's order regarding the prosecution of Seyyed Mehdi Hashemi's group, and the Imam's order not to pardon the prisoners with Mr. Montazeri has made things worse, and especially the way of communication, which is through people like Mr. Mohammadi Gilani and [Syed Mohammad] Abtahi and the Supreme Judicial Council, which is not justifiable to them.

They believe that false and exaggerated reports were given to the imam about Seyyed Mahdi, and after ordering the officers to pursue them, they acted very quickly and wrongly in dealing with the accused, and they had many examples. They suggest that the case has roots and originates from the sources of foreign enemies, and they put forward some clues.

In addition, they were very obstinate about the three lines and they complained about Ahmad Agha in particular. I gave a description of our actions and negotiations with the imam to adjust the situation. I defended Ahmad Agha. They also complained about me that I did not provide the necessary help. Finally, the issue was not resolved and they believe that the reports should be corrected. I arrived at the parliament around eleven o'clock at night. I caught channel two and then went to sleep