Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 29, 1989

I arrived at the parliament at half past nine. In the reports, the issue of Mr. Montazeri in Sadr and the Soviet and Turkish elections is of great importance. In the Soviet Union, the proponents of Marxist restrictions have failed and the people have chosen Gorbachev's path. Mr. [Hamid] Mirzadeh [Executive Deputy Prime Minister] came. He protested about the budget notes related to reconstruction, floods and earthquakes, and in the notification to the Planning and Budget Organization, he was given more right to formulate the bylaws. It claims that it has been added to the resolution of the parliament. He talked about the future of leadership and current issues.

Mr. Seyedzadeh came from public relations of the parliament. He made some remarks about the issues of the future leadership, the executive body and the parliament, and he expressed his concern about the vacuum in the management of the parliament after my departure. Efat called and told that people of the Revolutionary Committee are collecting photos of Mr. Montazeri in the streets and this is disgusting. I asked the committee, they said that no such order was given and asked to introduce the case for follow-up.

Mr. Sina Vahed [artist and writer] came from Argentina. He had material about the importance of General Zainuddin's influence in this country. He is a Shiite. He mentioned the economic and social situation of that country and claimed that scientists from Argentina are willing to work in Iran.

In the afternoon, Mr. [Masoud Roghani] Zanjani [Minister Advisor and Head of the Planning and Budget Organization] and [Morteza] Elwiri [Chairman of the Parliament's Planning and Budget Affairs Committee] came. They expressed concern about the way Ayatollah Montazeri was dealt with, especially after the quality of dealing with the Salman Rushdie issue, the issue of dealing with radio and television employees, and the issue of Oshin and Hazrat Zahra (PBUH), and they complained about the Prime Minister's bad treatment of ministers, especially the Minister of Planning and Budget. Mr. [Roghni] Zanjani intended to resign; I encouraged him to stay.

In the evening, Mr. [Mohammed] Abai [Khorasani] and [Mohammed] Jafari Gilani came and asked for the research work of the propaganda office [Islamic seminary of Qom] and inquired about the quality of the conversation about Mr. Montazeri's issue.

Mr. [Reza] Amrollahi [head of the Atomic Energy Organization] came and wanted more currency for nuclear energy. Mr. Masih Mohajeri [director of the Islamic Republic newspaper] came. The issue of Mr. Montazeri and the future leadership and newspaper issues were discussed. I worked in my office until half past eight and then I came home. Mehdi had returned from a trip to the East. He said a bit about Japan, [South] Korea and Singapore.