Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 13, 1997

In the morning, [Mr. Kofi Pano], the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo came and brought the President's letter. He asked for Iran's help in construction matters and also in resolving the differences between African governments, and praised Iran's success in construction and independence, as well as in creating reconciliation, especially in Sierra Leone, and requested that we advise Uganda not to interfere in Zaire. [Mr. Safar Ali Rajab Auf], the Speaker of the Tajik Parliament came. He was also thankful for our help to peace and humanitarian aid.

I had interviews with domestic and foreign journalists. There were more than seventy people and they asked more than a hundred questions. I answered all the questions frankly. I think it was a good interview; It took two hours.

In the evening, I went to Saadabad to welcome [Mr. Safar Murad Niyazov], the President of Turkmenistan and his entourage. Dr. Velayati came with him from the airport and we had an official welcome in Saadabad. Then a short joint interview and a private negotiation that lasted an hour and a half. He said, Mr. Yeltsin, [President of Russia], is not well and his friends have given up hope, and Chernomerdin, [Prime Minister of Russia], Zuganov, [Leader of the Communist Party] and Primakov, [Russian Foreign Minister], have agreed to gradually hand over the work to Mr. Chernomerdin for a period of three months and by manipulating the constitution, prevent General [Alexander] from coming to power. Lebed, [chairman of the Russian Security Council and commander of the Chechen war].

In addition, he said, yesterday the American ambassador told the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan to convey the message of the United States to us. That the US knows that Iran is not involved in the explosion incident in Saudi Arabia and that Saudi Arabia is spreading these rumors and that it is ready to negotiate with Iran and prefers to be open and that it is trying to change its policy with Iran; I said that we will give the answer after consultation.

After Maghrib and Isha prayers, we again had a negotiation with a limited group and emphasized on the implementation of the agreement to build the Khatun Dam, the implementation of the tripartite agreement with Ukraine, the payment of Iran's commercial demands, and the implementation of other agreements that their managers evade.

Then I had an official and public negotiation session with the presence of board members. The negotiations were formal and emphasized on cooperation. Before the negotiation, they gave me and Mr. Turkan, [Minister of Roads and Transport], the government badge for helping the relations between the two countries. Then we attended the dinner. We talked a lot at the dinner table.

It was decided that I would participate in the ECO [Economic Cooperation Organization] summit in Ashgabat and after the summit, I would stay for a few days to visit their country. He said that they have a conflict with [the Republic of] Azerbaijan over the oil tanks in the center of the Caspian Sea. He said that they have prevented girls from wearing make-up in schools, and this has upset Turks and Americans.