Transfer of Explosives During Hajj 65; Ahmad Montazeri: Form a Fact-Finding Committee

Ahmad Montazeri, son of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the former deputy leader of the Islamic Republic, recently stated in a video interview that the transportation of explosives to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s was not the action of Seyyed Mehdi Hashemi, but was carried out by six Revolutionary Guards. He added that Ayatollah Montazeri had informed him that these guards were working under Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the then-Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Hashemi Rafsanjani himself recalled in his memoirs from August 20, 1986, that Ali Mohammad Bashari, the then-Deputy Foreign Minister, later Minister of Interior in his second government, informed him that Saudi Arabia announced that several Iranian pilgrims had TNT in their luggage. This issue, which was later emphasized in an interview with the state-run IRNA news agency, provoked a reaction from Mohsen Hashemi, the son of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who described the mention of this event after more than 30 years as an "irrational and unethical" act that was made "without any documentation." In response to these remarks, Ahmad Montazeri told Radio Farda that Mohsen Hashemi had not read his statements carefully and suggested that a fact-finding committee be formed from impartial representatives and trusted ministers to uncover the truth regarding this matter. More details can be found in Mr. Montazeri's interview with Farhang Ghavimi from Radio Farda.