Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 19, 1997

At four in the morning, I woke up as usual with the alarm clock. Until five o'clock, he spent with Quran, Dua, Suhoor and morning prayers. Then I rested until 7:30 in the morning while listening to foreign radio news. As usual every day. Mr. [Gholamohsin] Karbaschi, [Mayor of Tehran] came. We went to Panj district of Tehran to inaugurate 12 construction projects of the municipality. First, we saw the commercial, administrative and service center of Bostan [in Ponk Square]; It is huge and interesting, with 35,000 square meters of building, on six floors and hundreds of commercial, office and service units and a large parking lot and a novel plan, most of the units have been sold, some have started working, and some are busy with decorating.

Then we went to Marafet Cultural Center [in Shahran neighborhood]. The local people were excited around the community building. I got off and passed in front of them. After the children's song and golpashan and visiting the classrooms and the library, we went to the opening ceremony. [Mr. Morteza Shapourian], the mayor of [Panj] region and Mr. Karbaschi gave explanations. The smart pressure irrigation network project for parks and 120 other projects, including five highways and stadiums, was opened. I also gave an encouraging speech about the importance of Tehran municipality's work and the development of all cities.

I went to my office. On the way, Mr. Karbaschi applied for a loan in order to accelerate the construction of projects and also to help Mr. [Syed Mohammad] Khatami during the [presidential] elections. Mr. [Mortaza] Alweiri, [the head of the Free Trade Zones Organization] came. He gave a report about the free zones and requested to solve the problems, including the establishment of foreign bank branches and help Mr. Khatami regarding the elections, and also requested action to unify the exchange rate, considering the success of the government in most of the construction and economic policies, and he was worried about stopping the work in the future.

Mr. [Abbas] Akhundi, [Minister of Housing and Urban Development] came. He asked for help and permission for the construction plan of Qom and asked me to go to the first phase of the new campus city. He had also told Mohsen that Mr. Khatami's nomination in the elections might have side effects. In the evening, the High Council [Environmental Protection] had a meeting with several resolutions. Iftar, ministers and deputies and advisers and their families were my guests at the Nihad [Presidential] club. I gave a gift of one thousand tomans to all the children.