Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 2, 1994

I reviewed and revised the plans of the Turkmen guests who are in Iran for five days. I went to the [Mehrabad] airport at ten in the morning. We also had drizzle. The official welcome was done with sun and ceremonies. They have brought almost all the vice-presidents and their ministers; According to his own words, only the speaker of the parliament and the head of security have remained in Ashgabat. The deputies have the main jobs and the ministers are in the second stage.

We did an interview and went to Saadabad together. On the way, he spoke a lot about the Commonwealth Summit in Ashgabat and revealed secrets. Yeltsin is seriously ill and receives blood transfusions twice a day, and with the help of the medical team, he can work two or three hours a day. He walks with difficulty and it is not known if he will stay for more than three or four months. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense are preparing to run the country and now they are actually running the country and Yeltsin is unaware. The excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages has taken its power and it is claimed, in Ashgabat, the request of Turkmenistan has been accepted and with the current situation, they have accepted that its southern border should be the border of the Commonwealth of Nations. They have already said that the military force of the Commonwealth of Nations should protect the southern border and they are worried about the infiltration of Iranian agents from the border of Turkmenistan to other countries. The news reports were the opposite. They decided to give us the text of the agreements.

He said about the severe differences between Russia and Kazakhstan and that Russia has a territorial claim against Kazakhstan and does not pay the rent of the big Baikonur space base [satellite launch and landing center] and claims that the Russians living in Kazakhstan are being mistreated. The Russians are not good with Uzbekistan either and they claim that Islam Karimov is disturbing in Tajikistan. It is claimed that the Ashgabat summit ended in his favor.

I did things until four in the afternoon. Mohsen came. He took documents for the publishing office [Ma'arif al-Hinbaal], from my historical letters and the documents of McFarlane's negotiations. It was discussed about the quality of installments of outstanding debts.

In the evening, the Turkmen delegation came to negotiate. First, we had friendly talks in an informal meeting. Mr. Niyazov said that the heads of the Commonwealth of Nations, during their trip to Ashgabat, were surprised to see the shops full of clothes in Ashgabat and told them that they got these as a result of communication and trade with Iran. They have realized the importance of cooperation with Iran and are based in Ashgabat. In the official discussion, the committee decided to follow up the cooperation cases. He wanted us to help them compile the history of Turkmenistan.

We went to the research center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for dinner. We brought all members of the board to the ceremony. We had many discussions at the dinner table and before. Regarding the future of Russia, if Mr. Yeltsin leaves the field and there are many possibilities that he believes, his supporters will have the possibility of control, and the possibility of a coalition of communists on the table is also not small.

At the request of the ambassador and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I asked him to solve the visa and return problems of Iranian businessmen who take goods to Turkmenistan and to help the activities of Iranian banks. It turned out that their problem is lack of currency and he promised to solve it in the future. In addition, it was decided to determine some goods that traders can buy and bring to Iran. He said that Kazakhstan, Georgia and Russia do not pay the demands. It was decided to establish a consulate in Mashhad to speed up the visa process.