Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - October , 2002

IRNA reported that in a survey conducted by Jahad Daneshgahi (Academic Jihad) and a research center, 75% of the Iranian people were in favor of negotiations with the United States, and the majority supported relations with the US. Given that the leadership had said a few days earlier that supporting negotiations with the US is treason, they protested.

Full text of the diary:

With the wave of protests rising worldwide and in the Islamic world against the recent US resolution regarding the capital status of Jerusalem, US President George Bush made a tactical retreat and said the resolution is advisory and the president has the authority not to implement it, and no change in US policy has occurred. In 1995, Congress asked the government to move its embassy to Jerusalem and officially recognize it as the capital of Israel, and residents of Jerusalem are considered Israeli residents in official documents.

Western media have paid significant attention to the summons of Mr. Abdullah Naseri, CEO of IRNA, to court over the publication of the survey about relations and negotiations with the US. A few days ago, IRNA reported that in the survey conducted by Jahad Daneshgahi and a research center, 75% of Iranians favored negotiations with the US, and the majority wanted relations. Given the leadership's statement a few days ago calling support for negotiation with the US treason, they protested. Jahad Daneshgahi and the National Research Institute declared the published statistics false and fabricated, not a real survey, and the court took action. Now, the parliament's presiding board has also protested to Tehran's judiciary and claims the Parliament's Research Center and the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission ordered this poll. All these have hurt the leadership.

Until 4 PM, I worked at the Koushk office, then went to Latyan and walked along the dam lake. The lake is fuller than ever. The children have not yet arrived: 8 PM.

Al Gore, the Democratic candidate against George Bush, strongly criticized Republican economic policies, saying that in the past two years, the US economy has collapsed, losing over 4.5 trillion dollars—one-fourth of the stock market's former value—and Americans' living standards have declined. They wrongly blame 9/11 for the problems, but economic deterioration started two years ago.

It was announced that 300,000 companies worldwide went bankrupt last year, and the global economy is worsening. Today, the Japanese stock market suffered another severe crash. Several people in Washington and two in Maryland were killed by unknown shooters.]