A cut from memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali
By Faezeh Sasanikhah
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan
2023-09-12
At three minutes past five in the afternoon on 8th of Shahrivar, 1360 (August 30, 1981), a tremendous sound echoed around the Majlis (parliament). Later it turned out that the sound had come from the Prime Minister Office. The Majlis lawmakers, who had a meeting that evening and the meeting had not yet started, rushed out when they heard the sound, and I, myself, witnessed the flames coming from the windows and in the northern part of the prime minister's building. Mr. Behzad Nabavi, who was in a hurry, was brought to Mr. Hashemi's office and I also went there. He did not say anything, but Mr. Hashemi said, "They may have been injured or they may have died".
I aggressively told him, "You won't let us purge these grouplets" and then I started crying.
Mr. Hashemi said, "Don't go out with this spirit".
I said, "I am in control of my nerves".
The public meeting of the Majlis was held at five o'clock in the afternoon. First, Mr. Khoe'iniha and then Mr. Hashemi himself chaired the meeting; but we were all worried. Little by little, it became clear that Rajaee and Bahonar, the president and the prime minister, were martyred by the grouplets. Later it turned out that the bomber was actually Keshmiri himself, while we first thought he had also been martyred. They had even prepared three coffins; one for Rajaee, another for Bahonar, and a third for Keshmiri; however, he was an infiltrator of the People's Mujahideen grouplet and the bomber and had escaped. The story was revealed after a week. He was so trusted by Mr. Rajaei that he kept the secret and top secret documents of the government and Mr. Rajaee even prayed behind him. And in order to deceive the people, he used to express Sharia issues and Imam's fatwas.
The meeting in which Rajaee and Bahonar participated was about the country's security. In that meeting, several government officials, including the Police Chief, Mr. Dastjerdi and the Commander of the Gendarmerie, Ehiaee participated. Finally, it turned out that those two people, a passer-by and several IRGC members were also killed. The bodies of Rajaee and Bahonar, which were completely burnt, were brought inside the Majlis for burial, and it was not possible to recognize them; except through their teeth; because some of their teeth were artificial. Mr. Rajaee had a white gold tooth that was recognized by it. It was decided that the martyrdom of those two and public mourning would be announced on the radio the next day on 9th of Shahrivar, 1360 (August 31, 1981).
Today, dated 9th of Shahrivar, 1360 (August 31, 1981), from seven o'clock in the morning, people gathered in front of the Majlis building and repeatedly shouted: "Khalkhali courts should be established." And this slogan peaked when I appeared from the balcony of the Majlis. People repeated this slogan for about three hours and demanded decisiveness from the responsible authorities. I and Mr. Khamenei, Fakhreddin Hejazi, Ma'adikhah, Rabbani Amlashi, and Kiavosh spoke for the people and invited them to be patient. Finally, Mr. Hashemi spoke for the people. Sadness was visible on everyone's face. First, the burnt and dismembered body of Bahonar, then the dismembered body of Mr. Rajaee, and then the body, which was believed to be that of Keshmiri, were collected and brought to the hall of the Majlis inside coffins.
Finally, the bodies were moved from the front of the Majlis to Behesht Zahra Cemetery in four coffins wrapped in the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with music and special ceremonies, while more than one million people were [resent in their funeral. The state TV was filming the crowd crying loudly and shouting: Revenge, Revenge.
On the same day, after leaving the Majlis, I went to the prime minister's building. Everywhere was black with smoke, and the second floor, the northeast part of the building, had been shattered and the broken glass of the neighboring buildings had filled the floor of the surrounding streets. This treacherous act of the American Mujahideen is not only condemned by the Iranian people; rather, it is condemned by all the people and free peoples of the world, and they look at this act with hatred and malice, and consider this desperate effort to be a good dance and for the benefit of the superpowers, especially the United States of America.
On that day, in my short speech that I gave from the Majlis balcony, I said that people like Bani Sadr and Rajavi, whose betrayal of the Iranian nation has been established, would be happy about this act. But they should know that if they want to return to Iran, the people will try and sentence them to death. Those who do these things and want this Muslim nation to be discouraged, should know that the Imam of the Ummah has thirty-six million people, such as martyr Muhammad Ali Rajaee and martyr Mohammad Javad Bahonar, all of whom all ready to sacrifice their lives in the way of Islam, just like them so that Islam is protected.
Shapour Bakhtiar, Ariana, Bani Sadr and Rajavi want to return to Iran in order to serve America. They must pass over the bodies of thirty-six million people. These desperate movements do not destroy the nation; rather, it will make them firmer and more determined. Then I mentioned an ayah from the holy Quran which says:
"But when the faithful saw the confederates, they said, ‘This is what Allah and His Apostle had promised us, and Allah and His Apostle were true.’ And it only increased them in faith and submission".
For some, it was unbelievable that a bomb could be planted in the commission of the country's National Security Council, which had been formed to create security. Iran's statesmen, who had witnessed the explosion of the Islamic Republic Party's office a few weeks earlier and then the martyrdom of Dr. Hassan Ayat, a lawmaker from Tehran, and other explosions and assassinations that happened a lot in those days, were negligent and did not pay attention to their office, and they did not investigate its angles exactly. In the recent sixty-year history of the world, there was no history of such a disaster that blew up the offices of the president and the prime minister. That day, in a private session of the Majlis, I stated that as long as we have the Imam of the Ummah, we have no worries and the Islamic Republic of Iran is established; but it shouldn't be in such a way that people think that we don't have the will power to run this country and are discouraged. In order to prevent such treacherous acts, we must come together and appoint decisive people to reduce the fever, apprehension and worry of the people, which is 100% today, for example, to 20%, and this will not happen unless a decisive prime minister comes to power. God knows that in this speech, I did not mean anyone else but myself. It was also mentioned by one or two people in the Majlis, including Mr. Shajooni and Mr. Fahim Kermani. They understood what I meant and others more or less realized that there was no other way. Of course, I personally was not necessarily involved, but we had to appoint a decisive person to relieve people of their fears as soon as possible.
Source: Ayatollah Khalkhali, Sheikh Sadeq, Memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali, the first Chief Justice of Revolutionary Courts, Sayeh Publications, V. 2, Esfand 1379 (February 2001). P. 339.
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