Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - May 7, 2001 - Meeting and Private Consultations with Ayatollah Khamenei, His Satisfaction with His Trip to Gilan Province, and Discontent Over Arab Media Reports Stating That the Leadership Encouraged Seyyed Mohammad Khatami to P

Participation in the Islamic Students Associations Conference

Meeting with Ali Akbar Velayati for Political and Electoral Consultations

Meeting and Private Consultations with Ayatollah Khamenei, His Satisfaction with His Trip to Gilan Province, and Discontent Over Arab Media Reports Stating That the Leadership Encouraged Seyyed Mohammad Khatami to Participate in the Elections, Along With His Desire to Deny This News

Complete Daily Record:

For the Islamic Students Associations conference, I left home for the Shahid Bahonar Camp in Manzariyeh. Mr. Mohammad Javad Haji Ali Akbari, the representative of the leadership, provided a lengthy report on my services to the revolution. I spoke about the importance of training committed youth starting from their school years. Afterward, I returned to my office. Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, the advisor to the leadership on international affairs, came by. We discussed the presidential election, current issues in the country, and economic and cultural challenges.

In the evening, I was a guest of the leadership. He expressed satisfaction with his trip to Gilan. We discussed the candidates for the presidential election. He was displeased with the false reports in the Arab newspapers claiming that Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, had requested him to tell Seyyed Mohammad Khatami to participate in the elections. He intends to issue a denial regarding this matter. Ifft mentioned that during a class at the Islamic Azad University, a professor criticized Mr. Khatami, and no students protested.

Conflicts continue in Palestine, and Israel claims to have intercepted a small ship carrying weapons for the Palestinians off the Gaza coast. Reports suggest that under U.S. pressure, Turkey has decided to prevent Iranian aircraft carrying aid to Palestine from passing through its airspace.

China has announced that it will refrain from returning the American aircraft due to the resumption of American spy flights near its shores. FBI officials have explicitly stated that Iran was involved in the Khobar Towers explosion in Saudi Arabia and intend to pursue the matter.

In Afghanistan, internal conflicts have intensified. The European Union has begun the process of establishing a government for all of Europe with a recent resolution.