Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 12, 1997

[Mr. Salud Alain Jalou], the Guinean minister came. He brought the president's letter. The talks were about cooperation development. They want to rebuild the railway between the port and the bauxite mine - which is in our hands. Mr. Javid [Qorban Oghli, Director General of Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] said that the continuation of work in the mine is conditional on the reconstruction of the railway.

The members of the [narcotics control] headquarters and the managers of the anti-narcotics departments came. Mr. [Ali Mohammad] Basharti [Minister of the Interior] and Mr. [Mohammed] Fallah, [Secretary General of the Staff] reported and presented me with a plaque of appreciation for the construction. I also talked about the importance of the fight against drugs.

Akhvi Mohammad, [executive deputy of the president] came for current affairs. He said, he also spoke with Ayatollah Khamenei about the [presidential] elections and his opinion is that if the agents nominate an unknown person, it is good to create more attraction for people's participation.

In the meeting of the headquarters of the market regulation, we examined the setting of prices and distribution. We had an unfinished discussion about the import and export of carpets and the use of foreign currency. In the evening, Mr. Mirzadeh [Head of the Program and Budget Organization] came and reported the final status of the budget that we have a surplus. Some of the expenses and credits needed for the leadership's trip to Khuzestan were discussed.

Mr. [Attaullah] Mohajerani, [Parliamentary Deputy of the President] came. reported that the plan of the representatives regarding the weakening of the Islamic Azad University was badly defeated in the parliament today and only 11 votes were in favor. He talked about the elections and said that if Dr. Habibi does not come, the agents will confirm Mr. [Mohammed] Khatami. He said that the leadership office advised Mr. [Hasan] Habibi to run. I asked Dr. Habibi over the phone; He confirmed and said that he gave a negative answer.

In the evening, Mr. [Mohammed] Yazdi, [Head of the Judiciary] and [Ali Akbar] Natiq [Nuri, Speaker of the Majlis] were my guests. They talked about the [presidential] election. Mr. Natiq is also worried about the coalition [Party] of the [Construction] agents and [Assembly] of clerics [Mobarez Tehran] and he prefers that the agents nominate Mr. Habibi. Mr. Yazdi said that some of the problems of the Guardian Council were due to the weak management of Mr. [Ahmed] Janati and also due to the discord in the community of teachers in Qom [Theological Seminary] that occurred after voting for the nomination of Mr. Natiq; It seems that Mr. [Ebrahim] Amini has resigned as a secretary in protest and said that he is not ready to announce and now they do not have a secretary. He asked me for help in reestablishing the judicial police.

Mr. Natiq [Nouri] complained about the lack of activity of the fighting clerical community in election campaigns; Because Mr. [Mohammed Reza] Mahdavi [Kani] and Mr. [Mohammed] Emami [Kashani] are against street and poster advertisements and requested that the meeting be held in my presence. Mr. Yazdi also gave a report on the meetings that are held to improve the situation of Friday sermons and requested that a meeting be held in my presence.