Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 6, 1996

Early in the morning we went to [Mehrabad] Airport and immediately flew toward Shahr-e Kord. Mohsen [Hashemi, Head of the President's Office], Hossein [Mar'ashi, representative of Kerman], Mehdi [Hashemi, Managing Director of the Marine Installations Company], [Mohsen] Nourbakhsh, [Governor of the Central Bank], [Bijan Namdar] Zanganeh, [Minister of Energy], [Seyyed Mohammad] Gharazi, [Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones], [Gholam-Reza] Aghazadeh, [Minister of Oil], [Hamid] Mirzadeh, [Head of the Plan and Budget Organization], [Gholam-Reza] Forouzash, [Minister of Construction Jihad], and the province's representatives were with me. After the official welcome and a short interview, we flew by helicopters toward the border point with Khuzestan Province.

We landed beside the Karun River for the ceremony marking the commissioning of the Izeh–Shahr-e Kord road. Messrs. [Akbar] Torkan, [Minister of Roads and Transportation], and [Karim Farajzadeh] Halvaei, [Deputy Minister of Roads for Technical and Road Construction], gave reports. At a cost of 47 billion rials, it has shortened a 207-kilometer road. I too spoke about the economic, security, and social importance of the road, which has brought Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari out of its dead end and created a new rear base for Khuzestan. I awarded the Third-Class Medal [of Construction] to Mr. Halvaei. Then by car we saw part of the road, passed through several tunnels, and unveiled the memorial plaque.

For the ceremony marking the start of construction of the great Karun 4 Dam, which, with a height of 207 meters, is the country's highest dam, we went to another point. After the explanations of Messrs. Zangeneh, [Minister of Energy], and Haddadian, [Managing Director of the Consulting Engineers Company], I gave a speech on the technical, economic, and social importance of the dam, which costs about 200 million dollars and 80 billion tomans. After unveiling the plaque, the construction work began with an explosion.

We flew to Lordegan. We landed at the site of the new industrial park. We visited the Foolad-Mehr factory. It belongs to the private sector and is much less than what had been said in the reports, which claimed it had the largest casting furnace, and it did not. The explanations

of the factory owner and my short speech and going among the people of the town who had gathered took place without a speech.

We flew toward Borujen. On the way, Messrs. [Abdollah] Kupaei and [Mohammad-Reza] Naseri, the Governor-General and the Friday Prayer Imam, were with me. The Governor-General was usually unable to answer the questions, and Mr. Naseri knew better. We landed at the Borujen industrial park. We visited several fiber production units and broke ground for the Harir factory; it is a multi-unit complex. Then, at a ceremony, explanations were given about several other factories that were inaugurated simultaneously by their own managers. I too gave an encouraging speech.

After lunch, prayers, and a short rest, we flew toward the town of Ardal and immediately attended the gathering of the people. At the ceremony, after hearing the anthem of the nomad children in praise of me and the speeches of [Mr. Rezaei], the Governor, and [Mr. Ali Qanbari], the town's representative, I spoke about the progress of the province and the country and the Revolution and the promise to fulfill the requests.

We flew toward Farsan. The ceremony marking the start of operation of gas supply to three towns [Farsan, Junqan, and Hafshejan], with the speeches of Messrs. Aghazadeh, [Minister of Oil], and Mohammadzadeh, [Managing Director of the National Gas Company], and my speeches on the importance of using gas instead of other fuels and encouraging the Ministry of Oil, and the lighting of the burner, and also the unveiling of the plan for the improvement of the irrigation network of the Junqan plain, and attending the gathering of the people and apologizing for not giving a speech, because it was not on the program and because of the delays in the programs, and responding to the warm feelings of the people, took place. Although there was no plan for a speech, they had built a platform and had gathered.

The next program was a flight to the vicinity of Farrokh Shahr and the inauguration and visit of the 196-bed hospital of the Social Security Organization and talking with several patients and unveiling several agricultural and pressurized irrigation projects and visiting the cheese factory built by the Shahed Company and visiting the exhibition and several other industrial units—pasteurized milk, water bottling, particleboard, and spinning. We went to a joint ceremony for the inauguration of several projects. All their managers gave reports. [Mr. Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh], the Minister of Industries, also gave a report on the state of the province's industry. I too spoke to remedy the shortage of liquidity—which most industries complain about. I said that by publicizing the projects, we must benefit from public participation and the small money of the general public. Then we went to the industrial town of Shahr-e Kord and visited it briefly; it is interesting and clean and in a good place.

Then, for the ceremony inaugurating 116 telecommunications projects, we went to Shahr-e Kord. Messrs. Gharazi, [Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones], and [his deputy], [Hossein] Shahab, gave reports. Mr. [Mohammad-Reza] Naseri, the Friday Prayer Imam [of Shahr-e Kord], spoke, and I gave a speech on the manifestation of social justice in the implementation of these projects and other services for the deprived regions and remote towns. The people, without prior arrangement, had a magnificent gathering and display of feeling. We went to the airport and flew to Tehran. We arrived at eleven at night.