Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 22, 1995

From five-thirty to seven in the morning, I wrote the backlogged memoirs. In the news, the Russian parliament's vote of no confidence in Mr. Boris Yeltsin, [the President of Russia], because of the mishandling of the Chechen hostage incident is noteworthy. By car we went to the site of the Shahid Madani Dam in the east of Tabriz, on the Aji Chay (or Talkheh Rud) River. Engineer Mohammad Kiafar, the Director General of the Regional Water [Organization], gave good explanations; it is an important dam, with a capacity of 700 million cubic meters, to supply the agricultural water of the vast Tabriz Plain, which is currently mostly barren, and the water in the flood season pours into Lake Urmia and in summer, due to the lack of fresh water, it becomes bitter and salty.

Regarding the method of solving the water salinity problem, they explained that part of the route of the branches is at a point called "Bahraman"—similar to the name of the village of my birthplace—around the city of Sarab. While giving a short speech, I emphasized that the irrigation method must be forced to be sprinkler so that the entire Tabriz Plain is watered. Currently they have considered 45 thousand hectares, which if it is sprinkler, is enough for the entire plain. With an explosion, the executive work of the diversion tunnel was announced and I unveiled the plaque. The construction of this dam is very important for Tabriz.

From there we went to the site of the Nahand Dam, in the adjacent valley. The dam with a capacity of 31 million cubic meters of good fresh water has been built for the drinking water of the city of Tabriz and is near completion. The filling with water has begun. A company from the Republic of Azerbaijan is doing the construction of the earthen body. Because after the occupation of the Khoda Afarin dam site, their machines had remained idle, they work cheaply and have won [the tender]. The surrounding villagers had gathered and welcomed warmly. I gave them a short speech.

We flew toward Harris County. On the way, Mr. Abdolalizadeh, [the governor of East Azerbaijan], gave explanations about the vast Harris Plain. It is low in water and mostly rainfed, and the water transfer through a 27-kilometer canal and two small earthen dams, at the level of 45 million cubic meters, which is to be transferred to the plain, is being carried out. I emphasized this important measure and its abundant economic effects in my speech. In Harris I visited the 96-bed hospital under construction. Beside the same place, we participated in the appropriate gathering of the city's people. We heard the governor's report; it was good, and an explanation of the abundant services of the First Plan for removing the deprivation of the people of Harris. The people have also understood correctly. They are very thankful. I too gave encouraging remarks.

Mr. Khoei, the head of the helicopters, said that due to clouds and fog on the pass of our route, they cannot fly to Kaleybar. We were forced to go by car and naturally the programs would be disrupted. I said to fly to beside the pass, perhaps the weather would improve; they agreed and we flew. The cars also set off. They landed beside the pass. There was an opportunity, until the cars arrived, to do some mountain climbing in the adjacent hills. There was also a water spring. The weather was also cold. In summer clothes, I endured the cold a little. The cars arrived and we set off. They said the name of the pass, due to its height and the fog that prevails most of the time, is "Goyjeh Bel," which in Persian means a place where the sky and the earth meet.

We went toward Kaleybar. We passed through the city of Ahar. Some recognized [me]. Part of the road was dirt and under construction. It took two hours. From the car radio I heard that it reported the situation and said that heavy rain in Kaleybar had also soaked the people and they were waiting and were happy because of the benefits of the rain.

At noon we reached Kaleybar. The people's gathering, which had remained despite all that delay, and the city had become completely empty, but they did not have the bustle that exists in other gatherings. The Friday prayer leader and the governor had also gone to the site of the [Arasbaran] Qarah Qiyah Dam, where they are carrying out the Jihad's nomad settlement program in the nomads' area. I was supposed to go for the ceremony, but with these delays it was removed from the program. Mr. Forouzesh, [the Minister of Construction Jihad], went.

We were forced—contrary to the arrangement—[Mr. Khanali Pourqorban], the city's representative, gave the welcome speech and read a very detailed report that the governorate had prepared and part of which was supposed to be read, in full, which was tiresome, and he said that the people of Kaleybar are so grateful that the President, by enduring the hardship of a land trip on this difficult road, did not remove the Kaleybar program from the schedule, that they will never forget it. The people confirmed with very loud takbirs. I too gave an encouraging speech and promised to fulfill the demands, which are also many.

We were supposed to go to the Sungun copper mine for lunch and a visit, but it was canceled. They took lunch there so that we would be hosted there; some bread and cheese were prepared for us to eat on the way. I was very hungry; I ate my driver Mr. Meraj's share, who did not want to eat while driving and had eaten something before. I also slept a little. On the way, at the power post on the road, I used the restroom to relieve myself. On the way there and back, we saw many rural groups who were walking in groups toward Ahar to participate in the welcome.

At three-thirty in the afternoon we reached Ahar. The companions had lunch at the governorate and I rested. At five-thirty we went to the huge gathering of the people of Ahar. The welcome of Mr. Aboutaleb Sadraei, the Friday prayer leader, and the governor, who said much in my praise, was met with strong welcome from the people. Usually in all ceremonies in this province, when the President's name is mentioned, the people express their affection with blessings and whistling and clapping. I too in my remarks explained that all the people's demands and my promises on the previous trip have been fulfilled and I promised to fulfill the new demands and gave explanations about the plan for the construction of the Ahar Dam.

The helicopters arrived. We flew to Varzaqan. In the people's gathering, after hearing the good anthem of the children, which was in Arabic and Turkish and Persian, the remarks of the district governor, which were good, and the remarks of [Gol Mohammad Elyasi], the representative, who, because there was no Friday prayer leader, was given the opportunity to speak contrary to the procedure, which was a mixture of good and bad, I gave a brief summary of my trip as the last speaker and spoke about the importance of the role of the Sungun mine in the region's economy and the important success of the new situation of the south of the Aras River after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

We flew toward Tabriz and landed at the site of the research center of the Ministry of Agriculture beside Khosrowshah. Due to the large crowd of people, the helicopter circled for a quarter of an hour to find a suitable landing place. This is one of the 28 centers that the Ministry of Agriculture has under construction across the country. We unveiled the plaque. After hearing the reports and the ceremony of awarding the third-degree medal of research to Dr. Azim Akbari, for his research in the breeding of wheat and rice and pest control, I gave a short speech that emphasized the necessity of irrigating the rainfed lands with sprinkler irrigation, without disturbing the hilly condition.

After visiting the laboratory and hearing an explanation about the mineral perlite that is given to the farms to preserve soil moisture and makes our agriculture economical in clay lands, and also the preparation of the late-blooming almond seed that blooms a few days later than ordinary almonds and naturally escapes the danger of frost in spring, we headed toward the airport.

The gathering of the people of Khosrowshah and the Osku valley around the center was such that we barely managed to pass, and along the route to the airport, here and there crowds of people had gathered for the send-off. At the airport I prayed and said a few words with the Tabriz Broadcasting Organization, in farewell to the people and thanking them for their unparalleled affection, and with the send-off of the officials and guilds and military personnel, we left Tabriz.

On the way, the representatives expressed their astonishment at the level of the people's presence at the ceremonies and their surprise at my hard work, who worked continuously from early morning to the end of the night, and the radio put it moment by moment at the people's disposal. The companions had jokes about Mr. Moslem Malakouti, the former Friday prayer leader of Tabriz. At two in the morning we reached home. Effat too is very satisfied with the trip program.