Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - June 22, 2001 - Hashemi's Account of the U.S. Attorney General's Claim Regarding Iran's Involvement in the Khobar Bombing

Hashemi's account of the signing of the water transfer agreement to Kerman by the Mahab Qods Company.

Hashemi's account of the U.S. Attorney General's claim regarding Iran's involvement in the Khobar bombing.

Full Text of the Daily Entry:

Today was spent on reading, resting, and visiting family members. Ahmad Aqa Marashi, [the cousin of Iffat], spoke about the problems in Rafsanjan, including water shortages, power outages, and the order to stop the pumps for four hours a day, which has disrupted farmers' schedules. Hossein Marashi stated that a contract for drilling a water transfer tunnel to Kerman [from the Safaroud Dam in the city of Baft, with a length of 64 kilometers] has been signed with the Austrian company [Philip Holzmann] worth $125 million, [by Mahab Qods Company].

In Tajikistan, the army has attacked the opponents' stronghold in the southeast [of Dushanbe, the capital], and there has been significant conflict in Palestine today. The BBC news network has released a film of the crimes committed by [Ariel] Sharon, [the Prime Minister of Israel], in Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon, which has had a major impact on public opinion. Sharon is being portrayed as a war criminal, and Israel is very angry. Bashar al-Assad, [the President of Syria], stated in an interview that the presence of the Syrian army in Lebanon is temporary.

The U.S. Attorney General has accused Iran of some involvement in the Khobar bombing, which only mentions the names of 14 Saudi citizens and one Lebanese citizen in the indictment, but leaves room for additional defendants to be added later. Saudi Arabia has stated that the U.S. has no right to summon Saudi citizens, while Iran has denied the U.S. claims. The U.S. has put its armed forces in the Middle East and the Gulf, as well as its embassies across the country, on alert due to concerns about reactions to the indictment against the Khobar defendants and also threats.