Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 16, 1992

I woke up late. Farewell prayer and pilgrimage and departure to the airport and flight to Tabas. On the way, we had a lot of explanations and decisions with Mr. [Jalil] Besharti, [Head of the Presidential Office of Deprived Regions] and representatives of Tabas and Ferdous and [Hamid] Mirzadeh about the development of South Khorasan.

They received a huge welcome; It was as if all the people of the city had gathered in the streets. The governor, Imam Juma and the mayor gave sufficient explanations about the facilities and needs of the city. I spoke in a very large gathering of people after the greeting of Imam Juma.

Since the helicopters were refueling, we visited the tomb of Imamzadeh Hossein bin Kazem, the brother of Imam Reza (a.s.). They said there is a document. A letter written by Imam Reza (a.s.) written to the chiefs of the region and asking them to search for Hossein who is missing.

The last earthquake destroyed the tomb and it was rebuilt with the help of Astan Quds. I also contributed ten million tomans. We flew to the Tabas coal mines. [Mr. Mahluji], the Minister of Mines and Metals also came. So far, fifty million dollars and sixteen billion rials have been spent on exploration. In my speech, I emphasized the follow-up and speed of action and efforts to build the Mashhad-Bafaq railway.

The engineers explained and I visited the discovery tunnel. Exploration is with modern methods. We flew to Ferdows. Mr. [Mohammed Reza] Tausli, the representative of Ferdous and Tabas, gave explanations on the way; It is very important. Five helicopters, two of which are Shenuk, are accompanied by a huge convoy, mostly reporters and security guards. We had a wonderful welcome in Ferdows. Guardsmen are upset about my carelessness among the people, but it is not right to distance ourselves from the people in such greetings.

I heard explanations in the governor's office. Like Tabas, I made many commitments to help Imran. After prayer and lunch, we participated in a gathering of people in a very large chapel built by Mr. [Ismail] Ferdowsipour. Governor Khair Moghaddam said, the students sang and I spoke. They do not have Friday imams.

We flew to Gonabad, with the explanations of Mr. [Mehdi] Mehdizadeh, the representative of the city. It was interesting to me to control the waters and forests, which caused the drought and injected water into very old and long and deep aqueducts, which some say are up to 300 meters deep on the slopes of the city. After the welcome and a tour of the city, I gave a speech in the public gathering and emphasized on development and elimination of deprivation and appreciation of the people.

I did We flew to the city of Qain. After welcoming and giving a speech to the people, until sunset, I visited the 2,000-ton cement factory under construction in Qain. Managers and [Mr. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh], Minister of Industries gave explanations. I emphasized speed. After returning to the governor's office and having dinner and negotiating with the officials and pledging a lot of aid to the region, I slept with extreme fatigue.