Excerpts of a Document Linking President-Elect, Khatami to Plots ofTerrorism Abroad
[Note: The following document was obtained by the National Movementof Iranian Resistance (NAMIR), then headed by Shahpour Bakhtiar, in late1984. Excerpts, including a fascimile of the original Persian languagedocument, were published in the London Times on Jan. 16, 1985. Visitorswishing to view the Persian original should goto NAMIR's site.]
Top Secret
Subject : Creation of An Independent Brigade for Carrying Out IrregularWarfare in Enemy Territory
In the process of obeying the orders of his Eminence ... Imam Khomeini...,the great leader ... which were given in handwriting, I would be pleasedif you attend a meeting at the building of the Ministry of Islamic Guidanceon 5/3/1363 (26 May, 1984) at 1600 hours. Should Your Excellencies presencefor some reason not be possible, then one of your senior responsible staffwith full powers of authority on your behalf should attend the meeting,and his name, qualifications and title should be relayed 48 hours beforethe meeting.
Signed on behalf of the Minister of National Guidance
Seyed Mohammad Khatami List of recipients of the memorandum
- Commander of the Joint Chiefs of staff of the Islamic Republic ArmedForces
- Representative of the Imam in the Supreme Defence Council
- Commander of the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic
- Commander of the Ground Forces of the Islamic Republic
- Commander of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic
- Commander of the Navy of the Islamic Republic
- Chief of the G2 Section of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Chiefs of the Political-Ideological Offices of the various forces
- Chiefs of the Islamic Committees
- The Representative of the Imam in Haj
- Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic
Top Secret
Official proceedings concerning the creation of an independent brigadefor carrying out irregular warfare in enemy territory
The meeting commenced with the speech of His Eminence, AyatollahKhatami, the Minister of the Islamic Guidance, who said the following :
"In the name of God, The Merciful, the Compassionate."
Dear brothers, I wish to welcome you on behalf of the International IslamicMovements Organisation, and to explain in brief why this meeting has beencalled. On 24th of 'Oribehesht' - (14 May, 1984), I , accompanied by theHead of this movement were received by our beloved leader to whom we presentedour progress report. Th Imam, expressed his satisfaction with the behaviourof the leaders of the sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf and of the Saudi regime.Of Course, he was not pleased either with others who pretend to be leadersof the Islamic nations. After moments of silence which were evidence ofhis deepfelt anxiety and dissatisfaction, His Eminence in his usual styleof firmness concerninig all living matters made certain comments whichare as follows :
'From the beginning of our revolution, we have had many enemies, but ourexpectations from Muslims was something else...'
based on a plan that has been prepared in almost 200 pages and on whichyou will be subsequently informed, it has been decided that the strikeforcewhich at present is composed of a few groups of 10-20 people each, whoare currently serving in the Lebanon, should be increased to the size ofa brigade. This force, for security reasons, and for the purposes of makingsure that legal impediments do not delay its formation, will be formedunder the aegis of either the Revolutionary Guards or the Armed Forces.Of course, the decision in this respect will rest with His Eminence, theLeader. At this time, we are concerned with its creation. This force willact independently and will present all its reports directly to the Commanderin Chief. Because the carrying out of this plan required the assistanceof all revolutinary organs, the matter was presented to His Eminence inthat initial meeting, and he accepted the proposal. What has been saidhas been a brief introduction, and now we will enter the main substanceand I shall pass the platform to Brother "Mirhashem", who isresponsible for this organisation. .... Brother Mirhashem :
"Fromwhat was said at the beginning, there was some reference made to the creationof a brigade. For the information of all present, I must say that we haveat present a number of dedicated groups who are ready for action and whohave, to the outside world become known as suicide groups. These groupshave already performed certain actions. But since regional reactionaryforces out of fear from the Islamic Revolution and the hard blows of thefighters of Islam, with each passing day under different pretexts are preparingthemselves more and more, and this in itself is a big threat for the continuationof the revolution, these groups that we have are by themselves inadequate.Also, the personnel in these groups are committed only because of theirbeliefs for which they are ready to do anything, but they lack warfareexperience. Therefore, the personnel of this brigade must from the pointof view of military combat experience be of a very high echelon. If wewished to commence this task from the beginning, that is from the trainingstages, by the time that we can prepare such people for utilisation atleast one year will have elapsed, and this is something that will createan interlude in our activities and will award our enemies more time. Therefore,it has been decided to select dedicated religious and fully committed candidatesfrom all combat 'nahad' organisations so as to prevent any interlude inthe continuation of our operational activities. ..... 