Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 21, 2003

At 8:30 in the morning, I went to the IRIB International Conference Center to inaugurate the conference for Mosques Week – which has been designated by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for the entire Islamic world, and its start coincides with the 30th of Mordad, the anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Mosque being set on fire by the Zionists, and in Iran, it also coincides with the anniversary of the attack on the Goharshad Mosque by Reza Khan.

Mr. Hossein Ebrahimi, the executive director of the Tehran Mosques Affairs Center, gave a report and delivered a welcome speech. I also gave an extensive speech about the importance of the role of places of worship and mosques in divine religions, especially Islam, and strategies for restoring the greatness of mosques. The Friday prayer leaders of Tehran and ambassadors were in attendance. It was a magnificent conference.

I worked at my small office in Kushk until the evening, studying the drafts of Iran's Future Vision document and the vision that the governors of the US state of Louisiana have prepared for themselves, in preparation for tomorrow's Friday sermons.

In the northeast of Bam, we had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that caused no casualties. A few weeks ago, a similar magnitude earthquake occurred in Zahedan.

The issue of the bombing of the UN office in Iraq is still receiving attention from the media and political circles. The UN Security Council, in last night's meeting, condemned it and called for the continued presence of the UN in Iraq and greater US attention to security there. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, criticized the US's negligence regarding security in Iraq and that office, stating that the US and the UK have failed to fulfill their duty. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, the former UN Secretary-General, has also condemned the US. Some media outlets have even accused the US itself, due to the conflicts they had with Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN representative in Iraq. The US also accuses radical Islamic forces, who these days are entering Iraq from Syria and Saudi Arabia. Israeli media also accuse Iran. Numerous operations have been carried out against the occupiers in Iraq, but in the news they are overshadowed by the issue of the UN office bombing. It has been officially announced that about 20 Iranian pilgrims to the shrines, who had traveled illegally, have been killed.

Today, Israel, in retaliation for the Jerusalem operation by Palestinian fighters, has carried out numerous attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, has once again besieged Ramallah, and has martyred one of Hamas's leaders, Ismail Abu Shanab, by firing a missile at his residence. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have also announced an end to the ceasefire.