Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - October 4, 2002

Debate and argument over the two government-proposed bills continue.

Efat is angry about the rising cost of graves on the eve of [Hazrat Masoumeh (SA)]. The spouse of [Seyed Mehdi] Akhavan Marashi, who recently passed away, has asked for 30 million tomans for a grave in the shrines surrounding the courtyard.

Full text of the daily note:

Time in the Kooshk office and at home was spent reading and working. In Masjed Soleyman, there was a 5.5 Richter earthquake, causing minor damage. Debate and argument over the two government-proposed bills continue. In the U.S., congressional Democrats are increasingly criticizing [George] Bush for exploiting the militarization of the country and the world for political gains in the elections. Al Gore, Bush’s rival, also accused him of creating global isolation risks and sending American youth to slaughterhouses. Conversely, George W. Bush accused the Democrats of sacrificing national interests for electoral purposes.

Efat is angry about the rising cost of graves on the eve of [Hazrat Masoumeh (SA)] in Qom. The spouse of [Seyed Mehdi] Akhavan Marashi, who recently passed away, has asked for 30 million tomans for a grave in the shrines surrounding the courtyard.

The Rafsanjani faction is upset with the pistachio cooperative for lowering pistachio prices by 20 percent compared to last year. Fereshteh and Fouad, [wife and son of Mehdi], who have returned from the Umrah trip, came to visit.

U.S. officials have claimed that Al-Qaeda is being trained in a camp in eastern Iran and also accused Iraq of cooperating with Al-Qaeda. They also accused Ukraine of selling advanced radars to Iraq in violation of international regulations; for this reason, they have withheld a $50 million aid payment to Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has requested the UN to send inspectors to examine the U.S.’s false claims. Iran and Iraq have denied the U.S. allegations.

The U.S. has stationed 700 of its special forces with a warship in Djibouti, apparently to fight Al-Qaeda in Yemen. The U.S. and Britain have reached an agreement on the text of a resolution to propose to the UN Security Council. Iraq announced that U.S. and British planes attacked a non-military airport in Basra, and the U.S. has sent officials to convince France and Russia to accept the proposed Security Council resolution.