Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 11, 2003

I went from home to Hosseinieh Tharullah in the center of Sepah.  I gave a speech at the meeting of representatives of the Supreme Leader in Basij, after listening to the report of Mr. [Haider] Moslehi, [representative of the Supreme Leader in the Basij resistance force].  I explained the importance of the role of the people in strengthening the system and the importance of the role of religion in the character of the people - which is the base of the revolution.    It was said that 58 thousand students are part of Basij and 350 people have official responsibility.
In the evening, Mr. [Ali] Mirkhilili, the representative of Minab, came.  In order for Mr. Darvishi to be accepted in the mid-term elections, he appealed to experts and informed about the unprecedented drought in the region.  Mr. Asghar Ebrahimi, [former CEO of Metro Company] came. He said, with a group of managers, for the future management of the country, according to the current conditions and risks, they have made investigations and they think the way out is to accept responsibility on my behalf.  It was reported that the Minister of Oil has moved Mr. [Akbar] Turkan from the management of Petrochemical [Company] to the Deputy Ministry, but Mr. Turkan is not satisfied with this change.
In Iraq, there are various protests and demonstrations about the American intervention.  The Ministry of Telecommunications burned down today;  Some consider the remnants of the Baath party to be the cause.  Usually, whenever a director wants the Baathists to return to work, the ministry body opposes it, and this suspicion has arisen that the United States has brought the Baathists against the power of the Shiites. 
Mr. [Syed Mohammad Baqir] Hakim, [Speaker of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq], was welcomed by the people today in the [cities of] Nasiriyah and Samawa.  In an American ship in the Oman Sea, 11 soldiers were injured due to an explosion. Colin Powell, [US Secretary of State], has come to the region for the second time for a week;  To pursue the peace plan, the road map.
In several important European countries, opinion polls have been conducted regarding America's actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than two-thirds of people believe that these actions have endangered the world, and the European Union has given America an ultimatum that if it does not cancel the tax discounts on its country's exports, Europe will impose duties on American goods that come to Europe.
In the domestic and foreign media, there is a lot of discussion about the government's twin bills [= "amendment of the parliament election law" and "explanation of the limits and powers of the president"] and the possible reactions of the representatives.