Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - March 8, 2003

• Continuing to resolve the dispute between the parliament and the Guardian Council, along with Ayatollah Khamenei's reference not to borrow from abroad.
  The meeting of Sheikh Ahmad Shafi'i, Amir Tehrani, and Mohammadi, the deputies of the Ministry of Intelligence at the time, and expressing satisfaction with the defeat of the reformists and reporting on the reason for the release of Mohammad Mohsen Sazegara
  Hashemi's account of the request for a red notice from the judge investigating the explosion in Argentina
  Full text of the diary:

The Expediency Council, by amending and approving paragraph (l) of Note 21, allowed the government to attract more than $50 billion in electricity, roads, railways, freeways, telecommunications, airports, ports, and refineries, from abroad and domestically, and also secured the opinion of the Guardian Council, and dealt with two clauses related to foreign borrowing, and the continuation of the discussion was postponed until Wednesday. The Supreme Leader has also sent a message that care should be taken not to borrow unnecessarily from abroad.

In the evening, the directors of the Ministry of Intelligence – Messrs. [Ahmad] Shafi'i, [Amir] Tehrani, and [Hossein Yar] Mohammadi – came and expressed their satisfaction with the defeat of the 2nd of Khordad and said that the Ministry of Intelligence had decided to abandon its policy of indifference to harmful actions.

Mr. [Gholamreza] Fazeli – a barber – came for reform, and recently he suffered a mild stroke and was saved.

The disagreement between Europe and the United States over the issue of [authorizing the use of force to disarm] Iraq has become more serious, and Russia and China are also with Europe. Turkish media revealed that the government has reached an agreement on the use of Turkish soil and entry into Iraqi territory, despite the opposition of the parliament with the United States, and that trucks carrying American military equipment have entered Turkey. According to the news, Turkish and American military forces have entered northern Iraq. The United Nations has recalled its civilian staff in Kuwait, and anti-war demonstrations continue around the world.

In Afghanistan, a bomb exploded in a convoy truck of foreign troops. [Juan José Galeano], the Argentine judge [AMIA explosion], has requested the arrest of four Iranian officials, including [Ali] Fallahian, [former Minister of Intelligence], Akbar Parvaresh and [Mohsen] Rabbani, [cultural attaché of the Iranian embassy in Argentina] and [diplomat Baratali Balshabadi], but has not issued a ruling on Rahbari and some of the others requested by the prosecutor. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Argentine chargé d'affaires and strongly objected to the judge's action.

Several countries have complained of U.S. eavesdropping and spying on calls from their representatives in New York, and the United Nations has called for a wide-ranging investigation. Yesterday, Israel killed one of the most important Hamas leaders, Dr. [Ibrahim] al-Muqadameh, with a missile, and Hamas vowed revenge. [Yasser] Arafat, at the request of the West, nominated [Mahmoud Abbas] Abu Mazen as prime minister, and the [Palestinian Legislative Council] approved it.