Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 30, 1983

I assigned the Friday prayers to Mr. Rabbani Amolashi. Before noon, Mr. [Mohsen] Doagoo, Deputy Minister of Education, came; his work with Mr. [Ali Akbar] Parvaresh [Minister of Education] has reached a critical stage. They had disagreements from the beginning, but recently Mr. Parvaresh asked him to step aside. Most of their disagreements have been and are over educational affairs and selection; it was decided that we would consult with the President and hold a meeting to address the disagreements.

The morning news said that last night the Iraqis had fired four long-range missiles at Dezful and two missiles at Andimeshk, killing and wounding a number of people and destroying about eight hundred houses and shops; it is an extraordinary act of cruelty to massacre people in the middle of the night in this way with surface-to-surface missiles.  It is a sign of Saddam's desperation. The Prime Minister said that he would send a delegation, and it was decided that a representative from my side would also be on the delegation. Mr. Jami, the Friday prayer leader of Abadan, also called and proposed sending a representative.

In the afternoon, I went to the home of Mr. [Mohammad] Mousavi-Khoeyniha - who had returned from Mecca - to see him.  He gave a detailed report on the issues and events of the Hajj and consulted about how to raise the issues there. At night, some relatives came. The latest announced figures for the martyrs of Andimeshk and Dezful were 75 martyrs and more than 200 wounded.