Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 22, 1989

Last night I slept relatively well. The lack of sleep from the night before was compensated. In the morning, I listened to Persian news from Radio [Voice of] America [VOA] and [BBC] English. After bathing and breakfast, we went to the hall designated for interviews and held interviews with foreign and domestic journalists. The Russians had asked me not to say anything about the arms agreement; apparently, they are under pressure in this regard from the Western side.  

From there, we went to the Kremlin to sign the agreements. With a special ceremony, Mr. Gorbachev [Chairman of the Presidium of the Soviet Union] and I signed two documents, and Mr. [Mohammad Javad] Iravani [Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs] and Mr. Leof Katashov [Minister of Foreign Economic Relations of the Soviet Union] [and Mr. N.S. Kenarif, Minister of Railways of the Soviet Union] signed two other documents. The signing of the arms document was to be done by Mr. [Behzad] Nabavi and Mr. Katashov, but due to their disagreements, it was not ready; with insistence from Gorbachev and me, they went, prepared it, and signed it at the airport.

We held the farewell ceremony for Gorbachev in the [St. George Hall] of the Kremlin Palace. We headed toward the residence. Along the way, we got off on Arbat Street, which is the center of intellectuals and artists in Moscow, and walked along the entire street. The people of Moscow are calm and do not show emotions. I bought a book from a writer who had self-published it and was selling it on the street. I gave him ten rubles. The book’s price was three rubles. This was the only private bookstore in Moscow.

We also visited a small grocery store. They were selling fruits and compotes; there was little, the quality was poor, and it was relatively expensive.

Together with Mr. Lyakov, we moved from the residence toward the airport. With a salute and parade, the farewell and see-off ceremony was carried out, and we flew to Leningrad [= Saint Petersburg] on a Russian ceremonial aircraft. The President of Moldova, who is Gorbachev’s deputy, was the host. We arrived at Leningrad airport at twelve noon. The city officials, headed by [Mr. Khudriev], the mayor, welcomed us. We proceeded toward the city with ceremony. In the car, the mayor explained things to us.

At the entrance of the city, next to the museum [Armitage] and the memorial building of the defenders [heroes] of the city who died in World War II, we got off and laid a wreath and heard explanations. They claim that one million people were killed during the 900-day siege of Hitler's army, and one third of the city was destroyed, and they broke the siege at the same point. We visited a store there.

We went to the municipal building [and attended the meeting of the executive committee of the city of Leningrad.] They explained. Well, they were not good at statistics. Sometimes they answered the questions wrongly and apologized later. We went to the residence; An old building by the river, in a wooded garden with ornamental trees.

The weather is sunny and pleasant. Such days are rare here. That's why some people are half naked in the streets. After lunch and rest, we went back to the city and visited the Armitage Museum and saw valuable works from Iran; It is an important museum. It used to be the palace of the Russian Tsar.

We walked the streets of the city. Many people lined up around the street. We came to the residence again to rest. I slept a little. We had dinner at the municipal guest house. We visited the Muslim mosque. They said there are fifty thousand Muslims in that city. Imam of the mosque has come to Iran.

At the dinner table, [Mr. Khodrif] the [Leningrad] mayor and I had a short talk. After dinner, we toured the city. We visited the battleship Abrar (Aurora). Lenin has announced the victory of the [Russian October] Revolution on Nav Radio. The tsar's palace was fired from this ship's cannon. That ball and that radio are now preserved. We visited the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The city is full of bridges, rivers and peninsulas; This is called the Venice of the North.

We returned to the residence at eleven o'clock. The sun had not yet set. We waited until sunset and prayed Maghrib and Isha prayers. Finally it got dark. In this season, they have only two or three hours of sunset. We slept at one o'clock in the morning.