Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - August 14, 2001 - Cancellation of the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony of Seyed Mohammad Khatami in the Sixth Parliament by Order of Ayatollah Khamenei

Cancellation of the presidential inauguration ceremony of Seyed Mohammad Khatami in the Sixth Parliament by order of Ayatollah Khamenei and planning for an extraordinary meeting of the Expediency Council in this regard.

Meeting with Seyed Hossein Marashi and Ali Hashemi, current representatives, regarding this issue.

Interview with Mahdi Sajadchi and Hamid Akhoundi for the series "The Revolution Alone."

Hashemi's account of the assassination of another Hamas leader.

Complete Daily Note:

I was supposed to attend the presidential inauguration ceremony in Parliament, but by the Leader's order, the ceremony was postponed, and the program was canceled. Mr. Karroubi, [the speaker of the parliament], made controversial statements regarding the remarks and actions of the head of the judiciary, and Mr. [Hashemi] Shahroudi responded. Mr. Karroubi proposed a joint committee for reconciliation, but Mr. Shahroudi deemed the re-nomination of legal members from the previous day sufficient and considered the committee unnecessary.

Ultimately, Ayatollah Khamenei wrote a letter to me asking for the Expediency Council to quickly convene an extraordinary meeting and, according to Article 110 of the Constitution, to provide a proposal to resolve this issue. I also spoke by phone with Mr. Shahroudi, [the head of the judiciary], Mr. Karroubi, [the speaker of the parliament], and Mr. Jannati, [the secretary of the Guardian Council], suggesting that if they could reach an agreement and a meeting of the Council wasn’t necessary, it would be better. They did not accept, so I called the members of the Council to an extraordinary meeting for tomorrow afternoon.

Messrs. [Hossein] Marashi, [representative from Kerman], and Ali Hashemi, [representative from Rafsanjan], came and explained the flow of significant discussions and presented a proposal to resolve the issue; they, like Mr. Karroubi, believed it was inappropriate for the Leader to interfere in this matter and prevent the ceremony.

I had an interview with Messrs. [Mahdi] Sajadchi and [Hamid] Akhoundi for the content of the series "The Revolution Alone," and I shared the relevant points. The state media has changed the experts' ideas since it is the employer. Today, Israel has assassinated another Palestinian leader.