Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 19, 1997

I spent some time preparing the contents of the annual message. At half past nine in the morning, they recorded the message. Then I saw part of it on TV. The employees of the mobile and message recording unit took a souvenir photo with me.

Mr. [Syedkazem] Normfidi, Friday imam of Gorgan, on behalf of the clergy of Mazandaran, thanked for the programs of my government and said that I have made the clergy proud in history and asked for Gorgan to become a province.

We had a meeting for the electronics industry. [Mr. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh], Minister of Industries and experts explained and told about the importance of this industry. It was decided to implement its development program, especially microelectronics, with the cooperation of foreign countries.

In the evening Mr. Nurbakhsh, [CEO of Central Bank] came. He gave a report on the currency performance of the current year and the plan for the next year, and expressed his happiness at the announcement of the members and the new program of the Expediency Council. By eight o'clock in the evening, I completed the office work and corrected the text of the interview with Mike Dallas, an American reporter.

We went to [Mehrabad] airport to go to Kish. There were also family members and relatives. We arrived in Kish at half past ten. The weather is good: 20 degrees. Mr. [Mohammed Reza] Yazdan Panah, [CEO of Kish Azad Region], said that in the last few days of the year, they had about 90 mm of rain, which partially compensated for the drought. I walked a little on the beach and fell asleep at eleven o'clock.