Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - July 3, 2001 - Meeting with Sheikh Mahmoud Mohammadi Iraqi and His Colleagues at the Islamic Propagation Organization

Meeting with Mohammad Reza Hafeznia and His Colleagues at the Africa Studies Center

Meeting with Sheikh Mahmoud Mohammadi Iraqi and His Colleagues at the Islamic Propagation Organization

Meeting with the Minister of Planning and Development of Yemen with Hashemi

Full Text of the Daily Entry:

Dr. [Mohammad Reza] Hafeznia, [the head of the Africa Studies Center], and two of his colleagues from the Committee of African Literature at Tarbiat Modares University came. They mentioned that after your trip to Africa and the establishment of the High African Council, several committees were formed to develop relations with Africa, including a literature and information committee at the university. They noted that the government's attention to Africa has decreased, and no one is paying attention to that committee.

I said that the government had a comprehensive plan to develop cooperation with developing countries, especially Islamic countries, and extensive executive actions had begun, including the establishment of air and sea lines, expanding representations, and the presence of the Jihad [Construction] and [Red Crescent] organizations, and most importantly, a development program to export appropriate technical and engineering services. To this end, the Asia and Africa Foundation was designed; if implemented comprehensively, it would yield results. He mentioned that the current government has focused its attention on Europe and has closed several embassies in Africa. We agreed that I would help them.

The managers of the "Dar al-Quran" institution, which is affiliated with the Islamic Propagation Organization, came. Mr. [Mahmoud Mohammadi] Iraqi, [the head of the Islamic Propagation Organization], and others reported on their eight years of activities, stating that the most accurate Quran is printed in Iran today, and the Iranian Quran editors have identified five errors in the Quran printed by Mr. Fahd, [the King of Saudi Arabia], which the Saudis have also accepted. They requested assistance to strengthen the institution for controlling translations.

In the afternoon, [Mr. Ahmad Mohammed Soufan], the Minister of Planning and Development of Yemen, came. We discussed developing cooperation and creating a healthy environment in the region and collaboration against Israel. He invited me to visit Yemen. He is the head of the joint commission that was established during the Reconstruction Government.

The Israeli policymaking council approved today to confront the Palestinians with intensity, which means the cancellation of the ceasefire. A court in Belgium has initiated proceedings against Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, as a war criminal against the Palestinians. Survivors of the martyrs from the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon have filed complaints, leading Sharon to cancel his trip to Belgium. [Slobodan] Milošević, [the former President of Serbia], has refrained from appointing a lawyer in The Hague, claiming that the court is political and has been imposed by force.