Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 27, 1997

Mohsen came. For the labor day ceremony, we went to the Bella shoe factory together. First, we listened to the factory status report. It is old and worn out with backward technology and with more than three thousand workers. We visited the production line. Some parts of it are closed. In order to import new cars. I talked to the workers. In a ceremony, I gave awards to exemplary workers on the occasion of Labor Day and I heard the report of Mr. [Hussein] Kamali, [Minister of Labor and Social Affairs] and [Alireza] Mahjoub, [Secretary General of Khaneh Kargar] and Amir Aslani, CEO of National Bank, and I gave a speech and commended about the great services of the workers to the revolution and also the many things that have been done for the workers in terms of raising salaries and reducing taxes, education, housing, insurances, and sports.

I returned to my office. The market regulation headquarters had a meeting with the report of several resolutions regarding the distribution of bran and tea. In the evening, we had some resolutions in the government board. [Mr. Ali Mohammad Basharti], the Minister of Interior, reported that so far 140 people have registered for the elections and Mr. [Ibrahim] Yazdi, [Secretary General of the Iran Freedom Movement] and [Ezzatullah] Sahabi and [Ali Akbar] Moin Far have not come to sign the principle of Velayat al-Faqih.

I was the guest of the leader. We talked about the election situation, the internal differences of the seminary community [of the Qom seminary] and the situation of the militant clergy community, my trip to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, the situation in Turkey and the possibility of the fall of [Najmuddin] Arbakan's government, Pakistan's support for the Taliban, and Tehran's drinking water supply due to the drought, as well as [publishing] my memoirs [= passing through the crisis]. I came home at night. Chastity is better now.