Diary of Akbar Hashemi - March 24, 2002 - Contact with Ayatollah Khamenei for the Retention of Mohsen Noor-Bakhsh and Gholamreza Aghazadeh as Active Members of the Expediency Council, “though Ayatollah only agreed to retain Gholamreza Aghazadeh.”

Contact with Ayatollah Khamenei for the Retention of Mohsen Noor-Bakhsh and Gholamreza Aghazadeh as Active Members of the Expediency Council, “though Ayatollah only agreed to retain Gholamreza Aghazadeh.”

Following the meeting with Sheikh Abbas Vaez Tabasi, who announced that he had advised Sheikh Abbasali Alizadeh to conduct a public trial for his son, Nasser Vaez, this time Nasser Vaez met with Hashemi at his home and provided a report on his accusations, stating that he had initiated his legal proceedings with the Ministry of Information and the National Bank, and that the Ministry of Information’s negotiations had caused indifference from Ayatollah Khamenei, Sheikh Abbas Vaez, his brother, and Ali Karimi Ghoddosi, the then Deputy of the Astan Quds Razavi.

Full Diary Entry:

I was at home. I spent a lot of time studying the weekly bulletins. Due to the Assembly of Experts meeting, I hadn’t been able to read. I spoke on the phone with the Leader and said it would be better for Mr. [Mohsen] Noor-Bakhsh and [Gholamreza] Aghazadeh to remain in the Expediency Council; it was decided to review the matter again.

In the afternoon, Mr. Nasser [Vaez] Tabasi came. He explained about the cases that had been constructed against him based on reports from the Ministry of Information and complaints from the National Bank. He believes that the [Ministry of] Information has turned the Leader, his father, brother, and [Ali] Karimi [Ghoddosi, the Deputy of Astan Quds Razavi] against him. He thinks that preliminary investigations will clarify that he has not committed any crime. A check of 14 billion and 400 million tomans, given as a guarantee for a transaction with the National Bank for Astan Quds, has bounced.

Serbia and Montenegro have agreed to keep the name Yugoslavia for the region. The Hague Court of Appeal rejected the request of [Abdelbaset al-Megrahi], the Libyan defendant [in the Lockerbie bombing case], for acquittal and found him guilty. The Russian Prime Minister and the Duma condemned the American policy regarding nuclear weapons. European countries, along with Russia and China, imposed additional tariffs on American imports in response to increased tariffs on steel imports to the US.

The European Union is holding a session in Barcelona. It is expected to decide tonight regarding Palestine and a possible American attack on Iraq. Large demonstrations against Western policies and globalization have been held in Barcelona. In Palestine, the massacre continues. Public demonstrations against the atrocities of Israel have taken place in many countries, with one Israeli tank and several helicopters damaged, and casualties reported.

Al-Jazeera reported that the Taliban have taken 17 American soldiers hostage and are demanding a prisoner exchange, although other sources have not confirmed this news. An American military officer committed suicide on his return from Afghanistan, and American military commanders have expressed concern about the exhaustion of American soldiers in Afghanistan.