Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 14, 1997

In the reports, peace in Tajikistan and the formation of a new government of Taliban opponents in Afghanistan are of interest. [Golbdin] Hekmatyar is not in this government and a new sedition may start. After the prayer, I walked for an hour on the beach and around the garden.

At eleven o'clock we left for Klardasht. We went through the Abbas Abad-Klardasht forest road. The road is very beautiful in the forest and in the heights. It passes through dense forests. It was built with my own help and part of it has not yet been asphalted. I think there will be a lot of traffic in the future.

Around noon, we entered the presidential guest house in Kalardasht. Kalardasht itself and the place of this palace is very beautiful. It is a land of about nine hectares, built in the time of Reza Shah on two floors and about 600 square meters with old high ceilings. At the beginning of the revolution, it was transferred to the foundation of the underprivileged and remained in ruins. I ordered the presidential institution to buy it and rebuild it, and now it is prepared for the guests of the institution who come to the north.

The weather is very good. It is usually cloudy here, because the clouds stop and stay when they collide with Alborz mountain, and sometimes it rains. There are many foggy seasons. The weather is mild and there is no wind or storm and there is always a cool and caressing breeze. After prayer, lunch and rest, and some history study, I listened to the statements of engineer Reza Marashi, [my wife's brother], who had been here for a few days during the previous regime, along with their uncle - Seyyed Kamaluddin Tabatabayi - who was the head of the real estate department.

At five o'clock we went to visit the stone mines belonging to the Tehran Metro Company. Engineer Ebrahimi and Engineer Vakili were also there. We visited the exhibition of stones. The types of ornamental stones are granite, china and marble. We visited the mines and working chests and how they are used. The rock reserves are huge. Almost all the area, which is more than 100 square kilometers, is a rock reserve. With a depth and height of hundreds of meters, it seems to have billions of square meters of stone, although currently one and a half billion tons has been confirmed and announced.

Then we went to the end of the valley in the continuation of ``Al-Kuh'' next to the "Sard Rood" watery surface and we reached the natural glaciers where the snow has accumulated since ancient times and a river flows under them and is added every year.

The metro company has started digging a tunnel from here to Taleghan, which will be 12 kilometers long, and it will pass through granite stones, which they will excavate and build a tunnel, and finally, the river water will be transferred through the tunnel to Taleghan and from there to Tehran. The work is very valuable and the ore reserves are worth billions of dollars. It should be marketed. Mohsen, who is also a member of the Metro Board of Directors, does not agree with such actions of Mr. [Asghar] Ebrahimi, [CEO of the Metro Company]!