Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – December 29, 1997

Before noon, I went to the Ministry of Interior for the governors' seminar. Mr. [Abdullah] Nouri, [Minister of the Interior] welcomed me, and I also talked more about the necessity of following the construction plans. I went to the kiosk office and studied until the evening and used the swimming pool.

In the evening, I went to the Ministry of Information for the national meeting of information managers. I heard the report of Mr. [Qurban Ali] Dari [Najafabadi, Minister of Information]. I gave a speech and pointed out the political situation of the country and the dangers and asked them to be alert. I said that the enemy's plan is focused on the leaders and religious authority and the axis of the system. The congregational prayer was led by me, and then there was some reception and conversation. The intelligence managers expressed concern about the stagnation of the effects of the contraction policy of the government.

From there I went to the leader's office; For the wedding ceremony of Asid Mojtabi, the second son of Ayatollah Khamenei, who is married to Sabieh Mr. [Gholam Ali] Haddadadal. Most of the guests were from the bride's family. Mr. Khatami, [President] and Natiq Nouri, [Speaker of the Majlis] were also there. Mr. Seyedhadi Khamenei said that he has received permission to republish Jahan Islam newspaper, but he could not start it due to financial problems.

Mr. Natiq Noori, in private negotiations, expressed concern about the deterioration of the situation of leadership destruction and asked me to go to the parliament. He said that the government's budget has a large hidden deficit.

He is also worried about the stagnation of the country; Especially since the enemies identify the leadership's statements about windfall wealth as the cause of stagnation and it continues. He said that he spoke with the leadership in Mashhad about the stagnating losses of windfalls and they said that they would give the answer in the Tehran speech, which was the same as what they said in the second speech. He said, the leadership office can do better. The leadership office even offended Mr. [Mohammed Reza] Mahdavi Koni in the endowment case of the late Khosrowshahi; Like hurting the survivors of the late Soltani. Mr. Natiq added that the leadership had decided to visit and give a speech at Tehran University to neutralize the new advertisements, but they stopped after an opinion poll.

We came home after dinner. Mr. Khatami, who just returned from his trip to Turkmenistan, rode in my car. On the way, he described his trip to Turkmenistan and conveyed special greetings to Mr. [Safar Murad] Niyazov, [President of Turkmenistan]. They have talked about the wholesale purchase of gas from Turkmenistan, but they differ on the price. They have not reached a conclusion about the legal status of the Caspian Sea. They have opened gas pipe and fiber optic cable projects. Mr. Niazoff said, he expressed his gratitude for my cooperation with Turkmenistan.

He consulted again about the answer to America's message. He talked about new oil development plans and the proposal to allocate their products for development plans. He said that the important successes of holding the Islamic Conference and the opening of two gas and optical fiber projects in Turkmenistan are the products of my government's services and thanked me deeply.

Mr. [Ali Asghar Mir] Hijazi also thanked me for the effective speech that I gave in Qom to the preachers, about the role of Shiism and the clergy and the religious authority in the history of Iran and today.