Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 26, 1999

Mr. [Pino] Arlacchi, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control, arrived. He expressed appreciation for Iran's efforts in combating drug trafficking and my specific role, and promised greater assistance from the United Nations. I also spoke about the importance of this fight, the major harms of widespread drug use, the destructive role of traffickers, as well as Iran's massive and costly crusade and the lack of effective cooperation from other countries—especially Western nations and the UN—and thanked him personally for his efforts.

The Infrastructure Commission of the [Expediency Discernment Council] held a meeting. Discussions centered on mining policies. In the evening, Dr. [Abdullah] Jasbi, [President of Islamic Azad University], arrived. He provided a report on the situation at Azad University and the recent movements among a group of students. He believes that Dr. [Mostafa] Moin, [Minister of Culture and Higher Education], and left-wing forces are behind these movements, and outlined his plan for dealing with them. It was emphasized that work should be carried out from a stance of enlightenment and raising awareness. He asked me to play a role by participating in the [sixth parliamentary] elections and strengthening independent candidates. He mentioned that he is thinking of establishing an independent party. I told him that given his current membership in the Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh), society would not easily accept him as an independent.

I finalized the text of my interview with the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper for publication. I had an interview with IRIB [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting] regarding the tragedy of Hafte Tir [the 7th of Tir bombing]. I stayed at the office of the Council [for Expediency Discernment] for the night.