Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 21, 1981

We had an open session; Mr. Rajai brought the budget bill and delivered relatively good remarks. The departure of the Parliament delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Manila had run into some problems, which were resolved through follow-up. They left for Dubai on a small plane to go to Manila from there.

After the session, I came to my office. My family was there. I was pleased; I had lunch with them, and for a few moments, the atmosphere of the office resembled a family environment; I had many visitors. They were waiting for Sa'id, who came and took them.

Mr. Kia'i, head of the Parliament guards (Pasdars), came. They have a conflict with the IRGC (Sepah). Parliament wants him to stay, but Mr. Jabarouti, head of IRGC protection, is unwilling. Apparently, they have withheld his salary. It was agreed that I would speak [with them]. The root of it is the same dispute between liberalism and the Line of the Imam.

Representatives of Mazandaran Province came. They brought Mr. Norouzi, the representative of Gonbad, who had resigned from Parliament because Mr. Nourmoofidi had been endorsed through meetings with the Imam and Mr. Montazeri. They complained about why officials do not pay attention to representatives.

People from Ayandeh Sazan magazine conducted a short interview [with me] about Martyr Motahhari. I went to the party office. I worked for a bit with Mr. Do'agoo on the methodology of the [Key to the] Quran group.

I attended the party's Political Bureau meeting. Mr. Beheshti and I offered an analysis of the current situation and what ought to be done, which was recorded. A group from Khomein had come requesting the retention of Mr. Qavami, the religious judge (Qadi Shar') of the Khomein Revolutionary Court. They had brought money from a martyred guard (Pasdar) who had willed that it be placed at the disposal of Mr. Rajai's government. It was decided that his will be read at Friday prayers; it is interesting.

At night, we had a meeting at the Prime Minister's office; Mr. [Mohammad] Yazdi gave a report on the work of the Dispute Resolution Committee, and it became clear that they had made a little progress toward condemning the offenders—who are the liberals—though weakly.

The Supervisory Council of IRIB (Seda va Sima) came to resolve their differences. The essence of the dispute is that Mr. Larijani, the managing director, wants to work with his own team and pays less attention to the desires of the council's majority. We negotiated until twelve midnight. We did not reach a clear point of resolution, but the atmosphere softened somewhat.

Mr. Beheshti spoke of a trick by lawyers and a judge to lift the ban on the Mizan newspaper [the organ of the Freedom Movement (Nehzat-e Azadi)], the failure of the plot, and the prosecution of the judge.