Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - March 1, 2003

Approval of other clauses of the general policies of the system in the telecommunications sector

Hashemi's account of the victory of the Abadgaran list in the Tehran City Council, which was deliberately made up of unknown names of the Principlists

Sheikh Ghodrat Alikhani expresses happiness over the defeat of the reformists in the city and village council elections

Sheikh Ali Younesi's report on nuclear activities and his prediction as Minister of Intelligence of a conflict with the United States

Hashemi's account of the Supreme Leader's non-participation in the city and village council elections

Full text of the diary:

At the meeting of the Expediency Council, three other clauses of the general communications policies were approved. In the noon session, with the presence of Messrs. [Abbas Vaez] Tabasi, [Ali Akbar] Nategh [Nouri], [Ghorbanali] Dori [Najafabadi] and [Mohammad Ali] Movahedi [Kermani], the results of the council elections were examined. It turned out that turnout was low, and in many big cities, the right wing was victorious, and the reformists, who were divided, were defeated. In Tehran, so far, every 15 victors are from the list of Abadgarans, which has been arranged with the agreement of the right-wing movement, and the names of well-known right-wingers are deliberately not included in it, so as not to be sensitive, and this policy has been implemented throughout the country.

The foreign media were talking about the victory of the reformists until noon, but after the announcement of the results of the counted ballot boxes, they reversed their victory and reported the defeat of the reformists. Another point is the lack of acceptance of the elections by the people of the big cities, which is not good for the regime, but the most bitter result is on the 2nd of Khordad and this discouragement is the result of their performance. In Tehran, less than 15 percent of those who had the right to vote participated.

In the evening, Mr. [Qudrat] Alikhani, [the representative of Buin Zahra] came. He expressed his happiness over the defeat of the leftists, even though it is the second of Khordadi. Mr. [Ali] Younesi, the Minister of Intelligence, came and gave me a report on the work of nuclear energy, which I was aware of. He predicted that we would have a conflict with the United States. He asked me to help solve the problem of foreign policy.

At night, the Presidium of the Assembly of Experts had a meeting. We set the agenda of the summit. It starts tomorrow.
The meeting of the Iraqi opposition, which was held in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, ended with the election of the Leadership Council, which consisted of three Shiites, two Kurds, and one Sunni, and the United States did not accept this resolution.
This evening, it was announced that the Turkish parliament had approved the deployment of 62,000 troops, 55 warplanes and 65 military helicopters, but at the end of the night it was announced that the decision had been revoked and that the government would have to make a new proposal if it wanted to.

The Arab summit in Cairo agreed that the United States has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of any Arab country, including Iraq, and that the Iraqi government must cooperate fully with the inspectors.

At this meeting, the Emir of the UAE proposed that Saddam abdicate his responsibility and go abroad, which was not accepted, and there was an argument between [Muammar Gaddafi], the Libyan leader, and [Saudi Crown Prince] Amir Abdullah. Gaddafi said that Saudi leaders had brought the United States to the region, and Amir Abdullah responded by asking him to leave the meeting, but others prevented him. Saddam started destroying the Al-Samoud-2 missiles at the suggestion of the inspectors, but [British Prime Minister Tony Blair] said it was a deceptive act.

Yesterday, Ayatollah Khamenei went to one of the polling stations in the city of Konark [in Sistan and Baluchistan province] and said that since non-locals cannot vote, they have come together for the importance of the elections and to encourage the people. He has given foreign media an excuse to criticize him.

The first international agreement to combat smoking was adopted.