Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - June 14, 2000 - Akbar Hashemi's Visit to the Kavosh Research Town

Visit to the Kavosh Research Town

Trip to the North and inspection of roads under construction or development  

At 7 AM, we departed for Ramsar by car. On the way, I made a brief stop to visit the Kavosh Research Town [located in Hashtgerd, Karaj]. We took the under-construction secondary road from Qazvin to Ashkvar. Mr. [Jalil] Bashirati, the head of the Office for Underprivileged Areas [of the Presidential Office], joined me in the car from Qazvin to provide explanations. The Office [for Underprivileged Areas] is responsible for this road, and under my previous instructions, the construction of secondary roads through promising routes between the south and north of the Alborz region has begun.

Along the way, I made several stops and spoke with local villagers, including in Bahramabad, Razmiyan, Hir, Viyar, and Sipardeh. The livelihoods of the people mainly depend on livestock and agriculture. The area is impoverished and isolated. They hope that these roads will improve their living conditions. At the end of the Hir and Viyar valley, we stopped by a spring under a willow tree for prayers and lunch. This area has abundant beautiful flowering rhubarb bushes, juniper trees, and other lovely plants.

From the Alborz ridge, we entered the Ashkvar region, which partially belongs to Gilan and partially to Mazandaran. The construction of the road has lifted this remote and pleasant area out of isolation and can turn it into a thriving region.

We arrived in Ramsar at 5 PM. The evening was spent resting, reading, following the news, and walking along the beach. Recently, there has been good rainfall here, and it is drizzling tonight as well. Unlike previous trips, no family members are accompanying me. Fati and Yasser and their families have gone to Mecca. Fa'ezeh has gone to Jordan, and Mohsen, Mehdi, and Efat are expected to come.

In the news, the successful negotiations between North and South Korea are significant, along with heavy criticism of [Jacques] Chirac, the President of France, for his visit to Syria to pay respects to Hafez al-Assad. Regarding domestic issues, it is noteworthy that the proposed press law reform was not brought up in today’s parliament session, and the many questions from journalists went unanswered.

For the past few days, it has been reported that a computer containing important documents related to nuclear weapons from the Los Alamos center in the United States has been missing and has now been found. Today, [Bill Clinton], the President of the United States, confirmed this news and stated that the issue is serious and important; apparently, six employees from the center have also been detained. Part of the documents pertains to the destruction of nuclear missiles from the United States and Russia.