Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 1, 1985

After prayer and some exercise, breakfast was served in the room and then we went to the airport. We went to Shanghai with two Chinese planes. We were on our way for one hour and forty-five minutes. At the Shanghai airport, the mayor welcomed us and we were delayed for about an hour until our planes arrived from Beijing and were ready to take off.

We left for Japan one hour late. We got off at Honda Airport at 2 pm Japan time. Foreign Minister [Shintaro] Abe had come to welcome. We went to Akasaka Palace. About 20 companions were received here and the rest were received at the hotel. In the palace square, the official ceremony and parade took place, and in the middle of the road, the streets were closed and the police were stationed on both sides of the road.

For an hour, we negotiated with the Prime Minister of Japan and his companions with a group of my companions, and we also talked about economic and political relations, war and terrorism, Afghanistan, Israel, and the United States. The relevant ministers were supposed to follow our negotiations.

Then we went to meet the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate. In a separate ceremony, dry and ceremonial words were raised and we returned to the palace and met with the representatives of the Japan-Iran Friendship Association. They were from several Japanese parties such as the Liberal Democrats and the Socialists, and said 96 representatives were members of the association.

We went to the reception hall of the parliament again for the joint banquet of the two parliaments. Self-service and standing dinner was served, and while eating dinner, we negotiated with the representatives and Speakers of the Parliament. The deputy of the parliament was a woman whom the newspapers wrote that I do not allow her to participate in the meeting. I talked to him especially to get rid of his mischief. We came to the palace and consulted with the board members about the rest of the plans. They had scheduled a visit to two factories, which we canceled, and the luncheon at the Japan Economic Organization Federation was also canceled, and the press interview that was scheduled in the press club was supposed to be brought to the palace. We contacted Tehran and it was not important news. The hitting of the cities has not yet started, and Libya and Syria have not yet fulfilled their promise [to deliver the missiles].