Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 12, 1999

I went from home to the al-Zahra (SA) Hosseiniyeh. I gave a speech to a gathering of Friday Prayer Leaders about the characteristics of the era of the Imam and the Revolution, including the emphasis on the governmental dimension of Islam.

I went to my office. Messrs. [Mohammad-Javad] Abolqassemi and [Seyyed Mohammad] Mousavi, from Region Two of the Islamic Propaganda Organization—which covers the provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan and the city of Urmia—came. They complained that the regional office had been dissolved and its departments transferred to the organization’s provincial affairs offices. This regional office had been established during the war, using defense resources, to give special attention to Kurdish issues.

Mr. [Mohammad] Gharazi came. He said that Mr. [Mohsen] Norbakhsh had suggested that, since he had little chance of winning the position of mayor of Tehran, he should withdraw in favor of Mr. [Mohammad] Atrianfar, who is currently a candidate for the position. I said that if he had no hope of winning, Mr. Norbakhsh’s suggestion was a good one.

My brother Mohammad, [Deputy Executive Affairs Officer to the President], came. He gave a report on his trip to Switzerland to follow up on the issue of war damages related to Kuwait and Iraq, as well as the court case concerning Siemens’ violations in the contract for the Bushehr nuclear power plant. He expressed concern about the Leader’s response to the members of parliament, in which support was given to the judiciary.

In the afternoon, Messrs. [Hossein] Navab, the Friday Prayer Leader of Qa’emshahr, and [Mr. Ezzatollah Akbari], its representative in parliament, came. They asked me to go to Qom for the opening of the Tabarsi Congress.

In today’s reports, the dismissal of the Russian prime minister by Mr. [Boris] Yeltsin is significant. Apparently, he took this action because of the Russian parliament’s decision to impeach Yeltsin, which is to take place tomorrow. The majority in the Duma supports [Yevgeny] Primakov, the prime minister, although statements by Yeltsin regarding Primakov’s lack of success have been heard for several weeks.

On the other hand, China is also refusing to cooperate in resolving the Balkan crisis because its embassy in Belgrade was bombed.

The issues surrounding Mrs. Marve Kavakçı in Turkey have affected relations between Iran and Turkey. Recently, the Turkish government raised another pretext, saying that Mrs. Marve holds dual U.S. citizenship and therefore cannot serve as a member of parliament. The Virtue Party has also said that 20 members of the Turkish parliament hold dual citizenship.