Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 2, 1997

I woke up well before the call to morning prayer and did not sleep again. I studied the plans for today. At seven-thirty in the morning we went to the helicopter station. Many of the shops in the town of Dehloran were open. In that early morning, we flew to the site of the Dehloran Dam, on the Doviraj River. We listened to the explanations of [Mr. Bayat], the Director-General of the Regional Water Authority [of Ilam Province]. The dam can regulate about 190 million cubic meters of water and will prevent the water from escaping to Iraq. Then we went to the site of the aquifer at the foot of the Dalpar heights. The Construction Jihad managers explained. They have a program of 100 thousand hectares of tree planting to harness water injection into the plain, to raise the underground water level. With the report of Mr. [Mohammad-Taqi] Amanpour, [Deputy Minister of Education and Research of the Construction Jihad Ministry], and a good poem by Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Mojabi and my speech on the importance of aquifer management, we continued.

We flew toward Mehran. On the way, we saw from the air the great Changouleh Bridge, which was inaugurated on this trip. In the war, the enemy struck this place several times to cut off the land connection. We landed at the Mohsenab site in the east of the Mehran plain. For the nomad settlement program, the Construction Jihad managers gave a report and spoke about the agricultural, livestock, fisheries, and nomad projects. A large number of nomads had gathered. They gave a horse as a gift. I got on the horse and galloped at speed. The companions were terrified, and the helicopter pilots came in front of the horse from the sides to stop and control it. My turban fell off, but I controlled the horse.

At the nomads' gathering, a little girl recited the Quran beautifully. I gave her a half-coin as a gift. Mr. [Jahanshah] Seddiq, [Head of the Nomadic Affairs Organization], gave a report on the large agricultural plan of the plain for the nomads. I too gave an encouraging speech about the nomads and the Revolution's services to them and the importance of nomad settlement and social justice, and I gave the documents for the transfer of pastures to their representatives [Messrs. Abbas Khatami, Ahad Hamidi, Asad Yaseri, and Mahmoud Shahmoradian].

From there we set off by car toward the town of Mehran. On the way, we saw the village of Islamieh, which has been rebuilt beautifully, like a town. Before going to the people's gathering place, I took advantage of the town's quietness and took a tour. It has been built very beautifully; wide, tree-lined streets and interesting squares.

The people's gathering was extraordinarily enthusiastic. A choir and a simultaneous performance by little girls, forming the emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran's flag with their colorful clothes and raising placards with the themes of resistance, were performed alternately. [Mr. Kalantari], the Governor, [Mr. Seyyed Mansour Aqa-Miri], the Friday Prayer Imam, and [Mr. Naseri-Gohar], the town's representative, gave warm speeches of welcome. A poet recited an eloquent poem describing me and the government. I gave a detailed and encouraging speech. Then I inaugurated the large and varied sports complex. I visited the halls and the pool, and we took a tour of the streets; this time the people were also there and expressing their feelings. At the Governor's Office we had prayers, lunch, and a rest.

Mr. Saeedi-Nejad, [Deputy Minister of Roads and Transportation and Head of the Country's Terminals Organization], brought the plan of the passenger terminal in Mehran, which I also told the people about; this terminal will be built on the road to Karbala that passes through Mehran. They thanked greatly and expressed joy. In Mehran, Iraqi television is also visible, because the town is one kilometer from the border. The Revolutionary Guards had heard the voices of the Mojahedin on their radios, who had come near the border and were tracking our trip and the number of helicopters.

We flew to the site of the Amirabad diversion dam and saw the Amirabad plain. By pumping water from the Kanjan Cham River, they irrigate 2,000 hectares of the plain. We heard explanations and turned on the pumps. One and a half billion tomans has been spent. The people of Gelan had gathered and expressed warm feelings. I too gave them a short speech and thanked them for their patience during the war and the importance of implementing this project.

We flew to the site of the Cham Gardalan Dam of Ilam. We heard explanations; it is an interesting dam, with a regulation capacity of 110 million cubic meters of water, part of which is pumped to the city of Ilam and the rest is taken to agriculture and the Amirabad plain of Mehran, and the dam will be completed by the end of the year.

We returned to Ilam. In the university area, we inaugurated the dormitories for male and female students of medical and non-medical sciences. We broke ground for the mosque and the technical faculty. We visited the paramedical faculty, which is near completion; it has a good building of more than eight thousand square meters. For the inauguration, we went to the Ilam Center for Public Administration Training. Good statistics and reports were presented by Messrs. [Seyyed Mohammad] Mir-Mohammadi, [Secretary-General of the Country's Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization], and [Mohammad-Ja'far] Ekram-Ja'fari, [Head of the Public Administration Training Center], and I too encouraged them. They said that 80 percent of the province's managers are local.

We visited the Arsa Cultural Complex, which is very large and interesting. A large number of people had gathered there. We went to the gathering of the educators and university community. Four thousand people were gathered. They expressed affection extraordinarily warmly. The report of the Directors-General of Culture and Higher Education and Education and the poetry recitation of [Messrs. Behrouz Sepidnameh and Abdol-Hamid Yaqubian], two good poets, and the music and flute of the artists, and my detailed speech and analysis on progress and construction development took place.

After dinner at the Governor-General's Office, I spoke by telephone with Effat. Tomorrow she goes on the Umrah pilgrimage. During the rest, Mr. Mirzadeh, [Head of the Plan and Budget Organization], said that in the parliament's [budget] commission they have removed the poverty-eradication credit. I told Mohsen to telephone Messrs. Nateq [Nouri, Speaker of the Parliament] and [Qorban-Ali] Dorri [Najafabadi, Head of the Plan and Budget Commission] and say not to remove it.