Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – March 5, 1996

I did the work until ten o'clock in the morning. Election campaigns are hot. Mohsen came and gave a report on the election situation and said, some people say that according to the opinion polls, Fazeh Ma has more votes than all the candidates. About 65%, which I don't think is the case.

We went to the Research Institute [Forests and Rangelands] of Jihadsonggi, for Tree Planting and Natural Resources Week in the China and Japan Garden area [in the Botanical Garden]; [Mr. Wang Shijie] was also the Chinese ambassador. We visited the natural resources exhibition. We saw dozens of stalls. Good work has been done and good researchers have gathered. Then the report of Mr. [Rabi] Fallah, [Head of the Country's Forests and Ranges Organization] and my detailed talks on the importance of the proper use of natural resources were made.

In the evening of Mr. Fallahian, [Information Minister] came and reported the negotiations of Mr. [Mustafa] Pourmohammadi, who went to Iraq. He had a meeting with Saddam [Hussein, the president of Iraq] and reported Saddam's words about Iraq's serious and political decision to reconcile with Iran.

Salmani came to reform. In the evening, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution held a meeting with several resolutions, including the assignment of the students of Shahabadi High School. I came home Mr. [Kamal] Kharazi, [Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations] and [Hamidreza] Asefi, [Iranian Ambassador to France], reported by phone from New York and Paris that intense propaganda was launched against Iran due to the explosions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and they used the confirming news of the Islamic Republic News Agency as the basis of the propaganda, which they said was "divine revenge." I told Mr. [Feridon] Verdinijad, [CEO of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)], to adjust somehow.