Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - January 2, 2002 - Ongoing Controversies Surrounding the Citizenship of Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and Mohammad Hashemi's Explanations Regarding This Issue

The publication of the memoirs and daily entries from the highly sensitive year of 2001 by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, titled "Excess in Disagreement," begins on January 2, 2002.

Study of the Proposal for Establishing a Scientific and Religious City in Qom, which, it seems, did not come to fruition

Meeting with Sheikh Mohammad Hassan Qayemian and his family, expressing satisfaction with the appointment of Sheikh Mohammad Taqi Rahbar to moderate the political and religious atmosphere in Isfahan as the interim Friday prayer leader in Qom, and a report on the trip to Noug, Rafsanjan, along with reactions to Seyyed Ali Akbar Mohtashami Pour's highly controversial speech in the parliament, where he referred to Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi as Iraqi.

Ongoing Controversies Surrounding the Citizenship of Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and Mohammad Hashemi's Explanations Regarding This Issue

Complete Daily Entry:

I worked at the Koshk office until the afternoon. Usually, I read a number of bulletins and reports that take a lot of time and accumulate throughout the week on Thursdays and Fridays. Today, the document regarding the establishment of the scientific-religious city of Qom was among them.

In the evening, Mr. [Mohammad Hassan] Qayemian, the head of the Martyrs Foundation, along with his father, brother, and children, came to visit. They expressed satisfaction with the appointment of Mr. [Mohammad Taqi] Rahbar as the deputy Friday prayer leader in Isfahan, stating that Mr. [Seyyed Jalal al-Din] Taheri had become worn out and incapacitated.

Mr. Qayemian mentioned that he had traveled to Noug [Rafsanjan] a few months ago, visited the home of his mother and his sister Tayebeh, and found it very interesting. He recalled that when he was serving Imam in Najaf, he was a classmate of Mr. [Seyyed Mahmoud] Hashemi Shahroudi, who had gradually developed an interest in the Imam, contradicting claims that Mr. [Seyyed Ali Akbar] Mohtashami had made about Shahroudi opposing the Imam. He noted that the Martyrs Foundation is currently facing a budget shortfall of 46 billion tomans.

In foreign media, the debate over whether Mr. Hashemi Shahroudi is Iranian or Iraqi continues, along with claims that 60 members of the [Sixth] Parliament are involved in financial corruption. On [Voice of] America and the Iranian anti-revolutionary television, many accusations were directed at Mr. Shahroudi by [Alireza] Nourizadeh, [a London-based journalist]; however, copies of his birth certificate issued by the Iranian consulate in Iraq have been published in the newspapers.

Mohammad’s brother stated that Mr. [Mohammad] Atrianfar had mentioned at a meeting of the Kargozaran Party that according to Mr. [Kamal] Kharrazi, [the Minister of Foreign Affairs], during a meeting with Saddam [Hussein, the President of Iraq], when he protested to Iraq for providing a platform for the Mojahedin, Saddam responded by stating that you have appointed Mr. Hashemi Shahroudi as the head of the judiciary, adding that he and his like-minded individuals had been imprisoned in Iraq and were released in a deal with England, allowing him to exit Iraq. I replied that the claim regarding the deal with England is unlikely to be true. Such insults are also disseminated in foreign media. Today, the United States bombed several locations in Afghanistan.

In the evening, we were guests at Fatemeh's home, along with relatives. Mehdi, who is preparing [the book "Report and"] the memoirs of 1983 [Calm and Challenge] for publication, had some questions.