Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - February 4, 2002 - Continued events of the Sixth Parliament.

"Formation of the Infrastructure Commission of the Expediency Discernment Council for the Approval of General Agricultural Policies

Consultative Meeting with Ali Mohammad Basharati

Continuation of the Side Issues of the Sixth Parliament

Full Text of Daily Report:

Before noon, the Infrastructure Commission [of the Expediency Discernment Council] held a session for the general agricultural policies. Mr. [Mahmoud] Hojjati, the Minister of [Jihad] Agriculture, took a significant portion of the time for reporting. Mr. [Mohsen] Nourbakhsh, [Governor of the Central Bank], came and criticized Mr. [Tahmasb] Mozaffari, [Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance], and Mr. [Mohammad] Setarifar, [Head of the Planning and Budget Organization], for lacking well-developed policies, and stated that Mr. Khatami, [the President], fails to reach a consensus, resulting in serious problems for the budget year 1381 (2002-2003); he urged that we take action.

In the afternoon, Mr. Ali Mohammad Basharati, [former Minister of Interior], came. He criticized domestic policies for being affected by unfounded disclosures, conflicts, unnecessary factional exclusions, and neglect of the country's fundamental needs, as well as foreign policy for its extremism, creation of conflicts, welcoming the risks of American interference, and overstepping in addressing Palestinian

"In Parliament, 150 members supported Mr. [Mahdi] Karroubi, [Speaker of Parliament], against the judiciary, and both factions issued a statement against [George] Bush's remarks. This unity against America has surprised and angered the U.S. government and the anti-revolutionaries. Bush, in his own thinking, mentioned the term 'unelected officials' in Iran to try to separate the reformists of the Second of Khordad movement, but he sees that no one in Iran can rely on foreigners to take charge, and the reformists distance themselves from that group during external threats.

Insults towards Mr. Karroubi, due to his comments in Parliament, continue from the right faction, and gentlemen [Mohammad-Reza] Bahonar, [Secretary General of the Islamic Engineers Association], and Morteza Nabavi, [Editor-in-Chief of Resalat newspaper], have made harsh statements against him, claiming he has spoken nonsense, while BBC has supported Mr. Karroubi.

Opposition to Bush's statements continues worldwide, even within America, and the head of the Russian Duma stated that no one has appointed Bush as the world's prosecutor. At the Global Security Conference in [Munich], Germany, Europe, Russia, and China criticized America's unilateralism in global issues and its pretense of superpower status. Meanwhile, last night, Bush repeated his threat. A report emerged that [Ariel] Sharon, [Prime Minister of Israel], has met with some Palestinian leaders; simultaneously, pressure on [Yasser] Arafat, [President of the Palestinian Authority], to release Mujahideen members is intense."

At the Munich Security Conference, significant disagreements were evident, including those between India and Pakistan, NATO, and America. The U.S. has threatened to act alone against supporters of terrorism if NATO does not cooperate. Protests have also been organized by the public against the conference, despite the government's ban on demonstrations. In New York, a large protest took place in front of the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, which is typically held in Switzerland. In Nigeria, it has been reported that casualties from an explosion at an ammunition depot have exceeded one thousand.