Akbar Hashemi's memoirs - September 16, 2002

‌We visited the Iran-140 Antonov plane. They complained about the government's lack of support for its sale. It was decided that we would travel to Isfahan with it on October 9th.

Russia's poor performance in the Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan issues has led to a decline in trust, and if they also back down on the Bushehr power plant issue, trust will be completely lost.

Last night, Yaser was supposed to bring dinner but didn't. I cooked eggs myself and reheated the leftover pasta from the night before; it was heavy and bothered me.

Full daily notes:

We went to the Aerospace Industries Organization Center of the Ministry of Defense on Karaj Road. After the military reception, we visited the exhibition of helicopters, training aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles made by the Ministry of Defense. The Apache-like helicopter design and the UAVs with a two-thousand-kilometer range, both jet and conventional types, are interesting.

At the conference of senior managers of aerospace industries, Mr. [Ali] Shamkhani, [Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics] gave a work report, and I also spoke extensively about the necessity of maintaining defensive readiness, considering the threat from America and utilizing industrial capacities. Mr. Shamkhani stated in his report that 69% of the capacity is idle and only 31% is active.

Then we visited the Iran-140 Antonov plane. Messrs. [Hossein] Alaee and [Mohammad] Eslami and the pilots gave reports and complained about the government's lack of support for its sale. It was decided that we would travel to Isfahan with it on October 9th; to declare its reliability. I conducted an interview.

I went to my office. Dr. [Mehdi] Akbarzadeh, [Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture Jihad] came. He asked for help with his new problems. Engineer [Ali] Vakili, [Head of the Petroleum Industry Research Institute] came. He said that the Russians had submitted a ten-year cooperation plan to the joint commission, and it was met with indifference from the Iranian side, which surprised them. They have stalled [Vladimir] Putin's, [Russian President] trip, during which this agreement was supposed to be signed in Iran. He said that, in general, the body of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no inclination to cooperate with Russia. I said that the authorities are in favor of more cooperation with Russia. He said that the news of five new nuclear power plants that the Russians spread is related to this preliminary agreement that has been approved by the government and they are waiting for our acceptance. I said that Russia's poor performance in the Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan issues has led to a decline in trust, and if they also back down on the Bushehr power plant issue, trust will be completely lost.

In the afternoon, I had an interview with the Protection Corps; on the occasion of their congress for 300 martyrs.

Gholamreza [my sister's son] came home. His child has been accepted into Azad University. At night, Mohsen brought food. Last night, Yaser was supposed to bring it but didn't. I cooked eggs myself and reheated the leftover pasta from the night before; it was heavy and bothered me.

An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude has occurred in Taiwan.