Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 27, 1989

I went to the parliament at nine in the morning. I did the office work until one o'clock. Reports say that the issue of Salman Rushdie with the aggressive attitude of Muslims and the rise of support for Iran is still at the top of the news.

I participated in the reconstruction council meeting. After a lot of discussion, it was approved to allow some factories to import raw materials with free currency and sell their products at free price or proportional to free currency price.

We had lunch with Mr. Khamenei. He reported the important points of his trip to Yugoslavia and Romania and believes that we should develop economic and technical relations with them, especially with the new situation with the West.

Negotiations were held with the presence of the foreign minister about the plan to cut ties with England, which is in the parliament. Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Velayati are against approving the severance of relations. Ahmad Agha informed that the imam has said that he has no opinion on this matter. The Prime Minister agrees. Ahmad Agha also disagrees.

The evening of the housing provision commission for parliament employees with [Mr. Mohammad Saeedi Kia] Minister of Housing

they came We negotiated about the lands that were bought for the representatives and employees of the parliament in the previous regime. It was decided that a number of old employees who have legal rights will be given their rights and the rest will be used for the housing of other parliament employees, and it turned out that it will reach everyone.

Soviet Foreign Minister [Edward] Shevardnadze came. He expressed his satisfaction with Imam's message and Imam's visit. Even though the imam got up after his speech with the words "These were not my opinions and I wanted to open another world to Mr. Gorbachev" and he got upset, but later he was satisfied with the quality of the news broadcast. He seriously demanded the praise and development of relations and the withdrawal of the Americans from the Persian Gulf and the solution of the Afghanistan problem, and I also confirmed it, and he gave Gorbachev's message about emphasizing my trip to Russia, and I also agreed and told the foreign ministers to determine the time of the trip.

He requested a private meeting, I accepted. We spoke in the presence of Dr. Velayati and a translator. He said that after returning to Moscow, he will give a positive answer to Mr. Velayati about the arms deals, and he talked about the issue of Salman Rushdie and advised us not to strain relations with the Westerners any more. I explained the reason for the Imam's ruling and he said that in a few days he will meet with the Westerners in Ben and talk to them about it. They were allowed to be active in the resolution issue. I came home at night.