Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - December 9, 2001

Asghar Ghafari's visit and report on the activities of Shahvand chain stores 

Consultation meeting of Mehdi Safari, then Ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Moscow 

Meeting with Herman Doukrot, Speaker of the Belgian Parliament 

Iftar of members of the Central Council of Moderation and Development Party 

Full text of the day: 

Mr. [Asghar] Ghafari, the head of Rafah stores, came and said that by reducing costs, they have achieved a profit for two years and have sales of about 85 billion tomans in 60 stores; Sales per employee is 7 square meters, which is 25 square meters in the Citizen Store. He described his revolutionary record and independence, said he deliberately avoided hypocrisy and warned of the serious possibility of corruption for shopkeepers and other places with extensive contact with men. 

Mr. [Mehdi] Safari, the former ambassador to Moscow and the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Caspian Affairs, came and said that he is trying to reach a 50% division of the Alborz oil field with [the Republic of] Azerbaijan and criticized the Ministry of Oil's strictness in purchasing Turkmenistan's gas; Given the price we sell to Turkey, we can sell their gas to Turkey at a reasonable profit. 

[Mr. Herman Ducrot], the Speaker of the Belgian Parliament came. He said, "I am influenced by Iran's progress during your presidential term." He said, "The Westerners have realized the importance of the position of the expediency panel in solving the problems of the Iranian regime, and questions were raised about the working method and regulations of the assembly, and also about the strategy of reforming Iran's image in the West." 

I said that the negative propaganda of the United States and those who have been cut off from Iran's resources will not let go, and it is natural for those who have lost important interests to be hostile. Belgium in Congo and France in Algeria. I enumerated the examples of terrorist and anti-human rights actions of the United States and Europe, including the massacre of prisoners held in Mazar-e-Sharif by the United States, the downing of Iran's Airbus and the current situation in Palestine, and emphasized that these crimes of Israel are carried out with the support of the United States. 

Iftar, the Central Council of the Moderation and Development Party were my guests. They gave the first example of the publication of a party newspaper and advised on strategies for independent, moderate and constructive activities. They believe that they should work on the basis of the Constitution and strive for its full implementation without committing excesses and excesses of the existing factions, and they have important problems in preserving independence and wisdom in connection with extreme right and left currents. 

In Palestine, Israeli bombings and aggression continue, pressuring [Yasser] Arafat to arrest the long list of mujahedeen forces they gave him, and in return, today, in an act of martyrdom, 30 Israeli soldiers were injured in Haifa. 
In Afghanistan, a helicopter crash in Kunduz killed 21 members and commanders of the United Front. In Kandahar, after the departure of the Taliban, there is an internal war between the Pashtun commanders who oppose the Taliban, and the United States has heavily bombed the Torabura Heights today, and it is rumored that bin Laden has left Afghanistan and Mullah Omar has disappeared.