Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - August 15, 2001 - Hashemi's Account of the Meeting of the Expediency Council to Resolve the Deadlock in Selecting Legal Members of the Guardian Council by Order of Ayatollah Khamenei

Hashemi's account of the meeting of the Expediency Council to resolve the deadlock in selecting legal members of the Guardian Council by order of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Consultation with Seyed Hossein Marashi.

Meeting with the Board of Directors of the Livestock Development Cooperative.

Meeting with Suphot Kaimuk, the Ambassador of Thailand in Tehran.

Complete Daily Note:

[Mr. Suphot Kaimuk], the Ambassador of Thailand, came. He discussed the situation in his country and the negative impacts remaining from the economic shock three years ago and requested more cooperation from Iran to alleviate their problems. I mentioned that we could collaborate more in the fields of gas, shrimp, and tourism.

Members of the Board of Directors of the Livestock Development Cooperative came. They reported on the progress of the dairy farm site. Ten years ago, with my assistance, work started from the 210 account, but after a long delay, only part of it has now become operational; it is designed to accommodate 30,000 cows along with ancillary industries and other services. They sought help to resolve issues related to documents, loans, and water.

Mr. Hossein Marashi, [representative from Kerman], came. He had suggestions regarding the afternoon meeting of the [Expediency] Council. In the evening, we held an extraordinary meeting of the Council, which lasted three and a half hours. Mr. [Seyed Mahmoud] Shahroudi, [the head of the judiciary], [Mehdi] Karroubi, [the speaker of the parliament], and [Ahmad] Jannati, [the secretary of the Guardian Council], explained their opinions regarding their disagreements. By order of the Leader, we entered into discussions to resolve the issue.

The right wing's opinion was that by selecting two more legal members, the Guardian Council would be formed, while the left wing believed that solving the issue required officially establishing the Guardian Council with nine members. Finally, with my proposal, it was approved to proceed with both actions, and a letter was prepared and sent to the Leader. It was a good meeting, resolved in a friendly atmosphere.