Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - May 1, 2002

We discussed with the Supreme Leader the issue of the elections, which Mr. Jannati had requested and which the Supreme Leader had referred to the Discernment Council. I said that it is fruitless, it is not expedient, and it is not a problem, and the amendment of the election law must be done through the government and the parliament. Their problem is that there is no trust in the work of the parliament

Full text of the diary:

Mr. [Reza] Abdollahi, the head of the Economic Commission of the Parliament, came to coordinate on the remaining clauses of the plan to attract foreign capital that is being discussed in the Expediency Council, and criticized the lack of attention of the government and the Supreme Leader to its proposals regarding the elimination of subsidies from bread. He complained to Dr. [Fereydoon] Nouhi for opposing the establishment of the cardiology department he requested at Shahid Beheshti University. Messrs. [Mohammad] Mo'min, [Mohammad] Shari, and his son came to follow up on my suggestion regarding the establishment of a comprehensive university in Qom and to solve the problem of the Fatemieh University of Medical Sciences. They were my guests for lunch.  

In the evening, the officials of the Headquarters for the Revival and Promotion of Mahdist Culture came and while explaining their plans, they asked to participate in their festival in Qom.

I went to see Ayatollah Khamenei. They are feeling better. Today, too, they had a public lecture and meeting, but after the speech, the pain had recurred. We discussed the issue of the elections, which Mr. [Ahmad] Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council, had requested and which the Supreme Leader had referred to the Expediency Council. Their problem is that there is no trust in the work of the parliament, and that is why it is a problem; they agreed to re-examine.  

The issue of the kidnapping and murder of Mr. [Heydar Ali] Alizadeh was also discussed. I asked them to order follow-up. Regarding the Petropars case, they said that they had agreed to first conduct an expert and technical investigation team, and if they saw it necessary, the court would take action. They have said that the report of the Inspector General is extreme. From that inspection, there is no important crime and economic corruption, but administrative violations.  

There has been a huge explosion in Kabul and there is a clash in eastern Afghanistan. Israel has again opposed the arrival of the fact-finding mission, and Kofi Annan has said that he is considering dissolving the mission because of Israel's sabotage.

 [Yasser] Arafat, [the president of the Palestinian Authority], has agreed to hand over to the American and British forces the convicts in the case of the murder of [Rehavim Ze'evi], the Israeli Minister of Tourism. Palestinians in Syria have demonstrated against Arafat's decision. According to a report, Israel and the United States are planning to annex part of Egypt's Sinai to Gaza and take Palestinian refugees there. The results of yesterday's referendum in Pakistan have been announced in favor of Musharraf's retention.