SAEDNEWS: During the Hajj pilgrimage in the first year after the victory of the Revolution, I had the honor of accompanying Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Revolution, and the late Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. At the beginning of entering Mina, we lost Mr. Hashemi and had no means of communication with him.
According to the political service of Saed News analytical news website, quoting Fars News Agency, Hojjat al-Islam Seyed Sadeq Mousavi Shirazi, son of the late Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Baqir Shirazi and grandson of the late Grand Ayatollah Seyed Abdullah Shirazi, was one of Imam Khomeini’s long-time companions in Najaf and had extensive activities in the struggles leading up to the Revolution. In an interview, he narrated an interesting memory of the late Hashemi Rafsanjani:
Almost all of my activities were abroad, especially in Lebanon, and if I entered Iran illegally, I had no chance of free communication, especially since well-known figures were under SAVAK surveillance, and if I contacted them, I would no longer be able to travel freely to Iran. Grand Ayatollah Khamenei had distant information about me, and after entering Iran along with Imam, I was introduced to him by the late Mr. Ferdowsipour, and from that day until today I have been under his kindness and affection.
During the Hajj pilgrimage in the first year after the victory of the Revolution, I had the honor of accompanying him and the late Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. The Saudi government gave them a warm reception and accommodated the leaders of the Revolution in a five-star hotel. But one night, both of them anonymously left the hotel and went to Imam’s mission headquarters. When we asked the reason, Ayatollah Khamenei said: We came for Hajj, not for sightseeing. I was in his service in Arafat, Mashar, and Mina.
After we spent a day in Mashar al-Haram like other pilgrims collecting stones for stoning the Jamarat, we set out towards Mina. At the beginning of entering Mina, we lost Mr. Hashemi and had no means of communication with him. Since not much time had passed since the assassination attempt on him, it was not possible to express concern or inform the police, so for hours we were all worried about him and waiting, until near noon he entered Imam’s tent with a cheerful face.
Everyone asked him about the reason for his disappearance and what happened during that time. He said: When I lost you, I wandered around until I saw an Iranian flag and went towards that tent. When I entered, someone warmly welcomed me and said this is Hashemi Rafsanjani, a companion of Imam Khomeini. Another person said no, he wants to take advantage of his resemblance. But one of them said, if you are telling the truth, show the bullet wound from the assassination attempt. So I lifted my Ihram garment and they saw the bullet wound. After that, they gave me a warm reception. We said, so you were enjoying yourself while we were in worry.
