Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - March 16, 2003

• The meeting of the Friday Imam of Torbat Heydariyeh and complaining to the Participation Party and the governor of the city at the time
  Consultative meeting of Sheikh Mohammad Naqi Lotfi, the Friday Imam of Ilam, with Ali Yari, a member of parliament at the time,
  Seyyed Reza Sajjadi's report on the situation at the Natanz nuclear facility
  Consultative meeting between Tahmasb Mazaheri and Mehdi Karbasian
  Consultative meeting of Ali Mohammad Namazi, Member of Parliament
  The meeting of Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Moussa Ghorbani, Hamidreza Hajibabaei, Jahanbahsh Mohebinia, Reza Abdollahi and Salman Khodadadi, members of parliament at the time, and a report on the political-parliamentary situation

Full text of the diary:

Yesterday [George W. Bush, Tony Blair and José María Aznar], the leaders of the three countries of the United States, Britain and Spain, held an emergency meeting in the Azur Peninsula of Portugal [in the Atlantic Ocean] to make the final decision on Iraq, at a US military base, and at the end of the day, they issued a statement declaring that Iraq has lost its opportunities and that the problem of the Baathist government will not be solved except through force.

[U.S. President] George W. Bush announced that there was only 24 hours for the Iraqi government and the Security Council to make a decision, but [British Prime Minister] Blair said that he had no objection to giving Iraq and the [U.N.] inspectors another deadline.
At the same time, the three countries of Russia, France and Germany announced that they would prevent the authorization of the use of force against Iraq and that the solution would be through the continuation of the work of the inspectors. [French President Jacques] Chirac once again made it clear that he would use his veto power in the Security Council to prevent war.

In Iraq, Saddam [President Hussein], by dividing the country into four regions and under four military commanders, has made a war arrangement and said that in the event of an American attack, he will wage war against the United States all over the world, and wherever there is land, air and water, he will attack the United States, saying that he used to have weapons of mass destruction and destroyed them and does not have them anymore.
Tonight, it was announced that the United States, Britain and Spain, after despairing of the adoption of their proposed resolution in the Security Council, have withdrawn it and asked the United Nations to immediately recall their inspectors from Iraq.

[Mr. Mehdi Shariati Tabar], the new Friday Imam of Torbat Heydariyeh, and a group of Basijis came. They complain about the governor of Torbat and the harassment of the participants, and they are happy about the victory in the council elections. 
The Friday Imam of Ilam, Mr. [Mohammad Naqi] Lotfi, along with Mr. [Ali] Yari, the representative of Ilam in the parliament, came. They complained about the slowdown of important development projects that my government had started in Ilam and said that the people of Mehran were worried about the attack of the hypocrites [= the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization] in the event of a war.

Mr. Engineer [Seyyed Reza] Sajjadi, [head of the Office of Technology Cooperation of the Presidency], came in charge of technology absorption of the Presidential Institute, and reported the inspection of the Natanz nuclear center and said that the uranium enrichment pilot work will not be ready until the end of next year, and mass production will be carried out in four or five years, but they have chosen the right path.

Messrs. [Tahmasb] Mazaheri and [Mehdi] Karbasian, the Minister of [Economic Affairs and] Finance and his deputy, came. I asked them to talk to the Guardian Council about the many contributions that the Expediency Council had made to resolve the problems of the Guardian Council in the budget bill, and they thanked them for the transfer of foreign borrowing into the country, and they had a proposal to resolve the dispute with the Parliament.

In the afternoon [Mr. Ali Mohammad Namazi], the representative of Lenjan, came and said that the Lenjan region is indebted to the great construction works of the construction period, and while requesting a trip there, he had suggestions for resolving the differences between the leaders.

[Members of the minority faction of the Sixth Majlis], Messrs. [Alaeddin] Boroujerdi, [Moussa] Ghorbani, [Hamidreza] Haj Babaei, [Jahanbakhsh] Mohebinia, [Reza] Abdollahi, and [Salman] Khodadadi came from the Majles and criticized the excuses and violations of the Majles and said that they were supposed to prepare a letter signed by dozens of deputies for Mr. Karroubi [the Speaker of the Majlis] because of the violations and announced that if this situation continued, they would not participate in the sessions of the Majles.

On the night of Amir Safarian, [his cousin] came to say goodbye. He is going to the United States to continue his studies, and an important university has given him a scholarship for his doctoral program.