Memories of Akbar Hashemi - June 22, 2001 - Extremely Important Statements by Ayatollah Khamenei During Meeting with Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Regarding Election Fraud and Guardian Council Claims, and Serious Recommendations to Seyyed Mohammad Khatami

Extremely important statements made by Ayatollah Khamenei during a meeting with Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani concerning election fraud and the claims of the Guardian Council in this regard, along with serious recommendations to Seyyed Mohammad Khatami for the new term. Notably, he mentioned that the parliament's approval for foreign investment would be rejected by the Guardian Council and expressed disagreement with the proposal for an investigation into the state media.

However, Ayatollah Khamenei later found himself in a position contrary to this opinion, as he eventually welcomed the parliamentary investigation in response to a letter from Sheikh Mehdi Karroubi. Following this investigation, the presiding judge, the first investigating judge of the public prosecutor's office, issued a dismissal of the case based on the parliamentary report.

A consultative and political meeting with Eshaq Jahangiri, Seyyed Hossein Marashi, and Ali Hashemi Behrani regarding the possibility of pardoning Sheikh Abdollah Nouri and reducing or pardoning the supplementary conviction of Gholamhossein Karbaschi in such a way that he could participate in Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's second government. However, Ayatollah Khamenei did not take positive action regarding this request during this period. Reactions from Seyyed Ali Akbar Mohtashami about the engineering of votes to prevent him from becoming deputy speaker of the parliament, as well as reactions from Behzad Nabavi.

Meeting with Abdollah Gholam-Allah, the Minister of Labor and Religious Affairs of Algeria.

Meeting with Mohammad Hoveyda.

Meeting with Younes Mousavi, the former representative of Abadan in the parliament.

Meeting with Ali Vakili and Ahmad Reza Jalali Naeini.

Full Text of the Daily Record:

Mr. [Ali] Vakili, [the head of the Petroleum Industry Research Institute], and [Ahmad Reza] Jalali Naeini came to visit. Mr. Jalali is a scientist who has collaborated with the United Nations on the Third World Development Program for over ten years. He stated that he and his colleagues, both inside and outside the country, believe that the development era during your presidency is unparalleled in Iranian history, and they have developed a program to attempt to revive the notion of development and have established a foundation for it.

Mr. [Younes] Mousavi, the former representative of Abadan, visited and discussed the slowdown in the progress of Abadan and Khorramshahr after the development era and sought advice on how to remedy the unfavorable situation. Engineer [Mohammad] Hoveyda came by, expressing concern over the political, economic, administrative, and security situation in the country. He said that the leadership should be aware that those who participated in the elections did not do so on his orders but rather voted contrary to his views. He also mentioned the scientific successes of his two sons, Amir and Hamid, who are in America.

During lunch, I spoke with Mohsen regarding office affairs and our personal matters. In the afternoon, Mr. [Abdollah] Gholam-Allah, the Minister of Religious Affairs and Waqf of Algeria, came. He had been to Qom and was influenced by the programs, schools, and libraries there. He praised my Friday prayers and my speech at the opening ceremony of the Unity Week and answered my questions regarding the Berbers, Sufis, and the conflicts in Algeria, also commending the program of Mr. Bouteflika, [the President of Algeria]. He himself is one of the Sufi scholars.

Mr. [Eshaq] Jahangiri, [Seyyed] Hossein Marashi, and Ali Hashemi came to seek assistance in reforming the conviction of Mr. [Abdollah] Nouri and the sentence of Gholamhossein Karbaschi, so he could be part of Mr. Khatami's cabinet. They mentioned that Mr. [Ali Akbar] Mohtashami, who was defeated in the deputy speakership candidacy, was angry and made a poor speech. This situation arose with the collaboration of the [Constructive] Party and the [Participation Front], and Behzad Nabavi has also expressed his anger and chosen not to run.

In the evening, I was a guest of the leadership. They said that on Friday night, while the Ministry of Interior had submitted a written report on the vote counts, the Guardian Council claimed that the number was four million less; it seemed it had not entered their computer system, and they still claim that hundreds of thousands of votes are missing, raising the possibility of fraud, though they have no evidence.

They mentioned that last night they informed Mr. Khatami that in this term, to encourage religiousness among the people and prevent moral laxity, to control political excitements, reduce the gap between the poor and the rich, revitalize industries, and eliminate unqualified individuals from decision-making and consultation, he should take action. They criticized the parliament's approval regarding foreign investment, stating that the Guardian Council would reject it, and they were also opposed to the proposal for an investigation into the state media, which is to be presented in parliament.