Excerpts of a Document Linking President-Elect, Khatami to Plots of
Terrorism Abroad
[Note: The following document was obtained by the National Movement
of Iranian Resistance (NAMIR), then headed by Shahpour Bakhtiar, in late
1984. Excerpts, including a fascimile of the original Persian language
document, were published in the London Times on Jan. 16, 1985. Visitors
wishing to view the Persian original should go
to NAMIR's site.]
Top Secret
Subject : Creation of An Independent Brigade for Carrying Out Irregular
Warfare 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 pleased
if you attend a meeting at the building of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance
on 5/3/1363 (26 May, 1984) at 1600 hours. Should Your Excellencies presence
for some reason not be possible, then one of your senior responsible staff
with full powers of authority on your behalf should attend the meeting,
and his name, qualifications and title should be relayed 48 hours before
the 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 Armed
Forces
- 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 brigade
for carrying out irregular warfare in enemy territory
The meeting commenced with the speech of His Eminence, Ayatollah
Khatami, 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 Islamic
Movements Organisation, and to explain in brief why this meeting has been
called. On 24th of 'Oribehesht' - (14 May, 1984), I , accompanied by the
Head of this movement were received by our beloved leader to whom we presented
our progress report. Th Imam, expressed his satisfaction with the behaviour
of 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 leaders
of the Islamic nations. After moments of silence which were evidence of
his deepfelt anxiety and dissatisfaction, His Eminence in his usual style
of firmness concerninig all living matters made certain comments which
are as follows :
'From the beginning of our revolution, we have had many enemies, but our
expectations from Muslims was something else...'
based on a plan that has been prepared in almost 200 pages and on which
you will be subsequently informed, it has been decided that the strikeforce
which at present is composed of a few groups of 10-20 people each, who
are currently serving in the Lebanon, should be increased to the size of
a brigade. This force, for security reasons, and for the purposes of making
sure that legal impediments do not delay its formation, will be formed
under the aegis of either the Revolutionary Guards or the Armed Forces.
Of course, the decision in this respect will rest with His Eminence, the
Leader. At this time, we are concerned with its creation. This force will
act independently and will present all its reports directly to the Commander
in Chief. Because the carrying out of this plan required the assistance
of all revolutinary organs, the matter was presented to His Eminence in
that initial meeting, and he accepted the proposal. What has been said
has been a brief introduction, and now we will enter the main substance
and I shall pass the platform to Brother "Mirhashem", who is
responsible for this organisation. .... Brother Mirhashem :
"From
what was said at the beginning, there was some reference made to the creation
of a brigade. For the information of all present, I must say that we have
at present a number of dedicated groups who are ready for action and who
have, to the outside world become known as suicide groups. These groups
have already performed certain actions. But since regional reactionary
forces out of fear from the Islamic Revolution and the hard blows of the
fighters of Islam, with each passing day under different pretexts are preparing
themselves more and more, and this in itself is a big threat for the continuation
of the revolution, these groups that we have are by themselves inadequate.
Also, the personnel in these groups are committed only because of their
beliefs for which they are ready to do anything, but they lack warfare
experience. Therefore, the personnel of this brigade must from the point
of view of military combat experience be of a very high echelon. If we
wished to commence this task from the beginning, that is from the training
stages, by the time that we can prepare such people for utilisation at
least one year will have elapsed, and this is something that will create
an interlude in our activities and will award our enemies more time. Therefore,
it has been decided to select dedicated religious and fully committed candidates
from all combat 'nahad' organisations so as to prevent any interlude in
the continuation of our operational activities. .....
