Akbar Hashemi’s Memoirs – 11 September 2002

Mohsen Rezaei, planned trip to Syria opposed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs; angry. Previously, even when approved, he was told not to request a meeting with Bashar Assad.

Complaint of Aghabai, [Former Commander of Tehran Grand Police District] regarding forced retirement

Full Daily Note:

Mr. [Ali] Karimi [Ghodoosi], Deputy of Astan Quds [Razavi], accompanied by Mr. Hosseini, responsible for Tehran endowments, visited. They explained the regulations regarding endowments and payment procedures for usufruct rights holders and landowners. Tahereh, a servant before the revolution, along with her husband [Mr. Jamshid Andarza], has usufruct rights, and her efforts to claim her rights had been unsuccessful. I had protested to Mr. [Vaez] Tabasi about why the rights of the weak were not being given, and finally, it was agreed to provide the purchase amount for a small house to them, and they accepted.

Mr. Mohsen Rezaei, [Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council], came. He had planned a trip to Syria, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opposed it; he was angry. Previously, even when approved, they told him not to request a meeting with Bashar Assad [President of Syria].

Mr. [Hossein] Alipour, CEO of [Frame Wood Industries] in Savadkuh, accompanied by Mr. Taghavi, visited. They said the factory was established 36 years ago to extract wood from 50,000 hectares of Mazandaran forests and to improve forest management. Now, the forest work is near completion, parts have been successfully restored, and they cannot extract wood as before, causing losses. They requested that I ask the government for a loan to buy out employees. He shared interesting memories from when I visited as the Director General of Natural Resources of Semnan Province.

Mr. [Abdollah] Aghabai, [Former Commander of Tehran Grand Police District], came. He complained about being forcibly retired by the General Staff [of the Armed Forces] and wants to return to work.

In the afternoon, [Mr. Mark Will], Minister of Trade of Australia, visited. Discussions were about relations and issues in Iraq, mentioning they have forces in Afghanistan.

Yesterday in Mahabad, in protest over the killing of three kolbars (porters), a group of youth caused riots and destruction, but they were quickly suppressed.

The Central Council of the Office for Strengthening Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat), representing 32 universities’ Islamic Associations, wrote a letter to the Assembly of Experts, raising objections against the leadership and requesting that the Experts address these issues. They questioned the knowledge, justice, management, and influence of the leadership; an unprecedented and very harsh action.

The U.S., on the anniversary of September 11, has placed the country on alert and deployed anti-aircraft missiles for the first time since the missile crisis; apparently, a few missiles were fired at the U.S. base in Afghanistan.