Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 26, 2003

At home and in the Kushk office, the time was spent studying. In the media, the discussion of those arrested in recent incidents, U.S. intervention, and the resulting embarrassment for them is receiving attention. In Iraq, the sixth explosion at oil facilities within a week occurred, causing grave concern for the occupiers, and it has become clear that exploiting Iraq's oil, which was a major objective of the invasion, is not an easy task. U.S. military officials say they need to increase their troop numbers to 200,000.

On the Syrian border, a clash occurred between U.S. forces and Syrian border guards, resulting in the deaths of five Syrian soldiers. The U.S. claims the target was a convoy that was thought to possibly contain Saddam Hussein.

Two U.S. soldiers have been kidnapped in Baghdad. In an attack on a U.S. military vehicle on the Baghdad airport highway, two Americans were killed. Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, once again accused Iran of interfering in Iraqi affairs. Bush continues his propaganda attacks against Iran, and in a U.S.-EU summit meeting in the United States, they jointly demanded that Iran accept the Additional Protocol to the NPT.

In Basra, the civil war continues intensely, and insurgents have taken control of part of the city center. Mohammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, the former Iraqi information minister, officially surrendered to U.S. forces and was released after a short interrogation. In an interview, he said his previous statements were correct. Britain, which had previously claimed that attacks on its troops in Iraq occurred during Iraqi police training, has now admitted that the attacks were due to the soldiers' misconduct during family searches and has acknowledged that the reaction was from the people. In Afghanistan, several U.S. soldiers have been killed and wounded.

Yasser Arafat has predicted that soon the Palestinian Mujahideen groups will agree to suspend retaliatory operations. The U.S. has officially asked the UN to declare Palestinian Mujahideen groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah illegal. Condoleezza Rice, the White House National Security Advisor, has said that world peace can only be achieved through a unipolar world under U.S. leadership, and that Jacques Chirac's ideas about a multipolar world are incorrect. Saudi Arabia announced that the mastermind of the recent Riyadh bombings, a leader of Al-Qaeda, has surrendered.
French police say the MKO intended to carry out operations against Iranian diplomatic missions.

Farhad Javaheriyar, a former leader who split from the MKO, has made important revelations about the organization's crimes, including a program to eliminate dissidents within the group, and that he himself was sentenced to death and symbolically hanged by the group in a show trial. These revelations, along with France's actions against the MKO, are of great significance.

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has made a significant visit to London, and an agreement to build a gas pipeline to Northern Europe, costing $5 billion, has been signed. The Queen of England has awarded him the highest national honor. Such a visit has not occurred in the past 100 years.