Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 23, 2003

Last night and the night before, a small amount of rain fell in Tehran. In the meeting of the Expediency Discernment Council, we approved the policy for using foreign capital in the stock exchange.

In the midday meeting with Mr. Abbas Vaez Tabasi, Mr. Ahmad Jannati, Mr. Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, Mr. Ghorbanali Dorri Najafabadi, and Mr. Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, we discussed the elections, the supervisory offices of the Guardian Council, and the situation in Iraq. Mr. Yazdi reported on the Guardian Council's meeting with the leadership regarding the elections, during which, while emphasizing the need to verify qualifications, they were prohibited from extremism and were allowed to file complaints against the Ministry of Interior regarding the treatment of the Council's supervisory offices.

In the evening, Mr. Ebrahim Darazgisou, Iran's ambassador to Turkmenistan, came and suggested that on the anniversary of Makhtumqoli, Mr. Saparmurat Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan, would attend the ceremony in Gonbad, and that I should also participate. He asked about the rumor of plans to hold parliamentary and presidential elections simultaneously; I said it had been a proposal under consideration by the leadership to the heads of the three branches, but it was not pursued later.

Mr. Dr. Alireza Bahrampour and Mr. Hamed Mara'shi came. The Minister of Telecommunications had dismissed them from the company, and they are thinking of returning to the university. They said some in the parliament are thinking of impeaching ministers.

In Iraq, three British soldiers and four civilians were killed in Basra. Attacks have been carried out against Americans in several cities, and demonstrations have been held. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, after talks with Donald Rumsfeld, criticized US policies in Iraq and said that if the US does not hand over part of Iraq's affairs to the UN, it will be difficult to pass a resolution for others' participation in maintaining peace in Iraq, and credible countries are not willing to take on security responsibilities without participating in Iraq's administration.

In Palestine, Israeli attacks on the cities of Gaza and the West Bank have intensified, and the US and Israel have called for the eradication of Jihadist groups, and by order of George W. Bush, the assets of five Palestinian Jihadist groups have been frozen.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand.

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