Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 7, 1992

I did my office work before noon. In order to reach the work of the guests, I deleted miscellaneous meetings. At eleven in the morning, two Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations came. In order for the work to go smoothly in the official and public meeting, we spent hours on preliminary negotiations. It turned out that Mr. Mohammadov and Mr. Petrosyan, [presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia], had not met each other in the past until this moment; Although they have negotiated over the phone.

In the pond room of the house, we sat in a circle around the pond. I sat between the two of them and first talked in general terms such as the harm of conflict and the benefits of peace, and then about the text of the document prepared for both parties to sign. There was an opinion about the generalities of the alliance, but there was a difference in some of the themes and expressions of the document.

The Armenian delegation was united and obedient to their leader, but the Azeri delegation had differences and some acted mysteriously so that their leader would not succeed or Iran would not succeed in their mediation. His minister of foreign affairs was like that. After the agreement, they would break the contract. Finally, we had to be alone and made a partial agreement. We went to the official meeting. After the official and general statements of me and the two parties, I specified the topics that are included in the statement. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the meeting ended and it was agreed that the experts would prepare the statement and get it signed by the three parties.

They went to rest. I also came for prayer, lunch, rest and doing office work. Azari delegation came for the second round of negotiations. They were supposed to go to Mashhad today; They said that they have given up and will return to Azerbaijan today. We negotiated for the final text of the document. It turned out that their experts have raised doubts. We signed declarations of cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan. We gave them five hundred million dollars in credit to buy Iranian goods. Since the truce was not finished, it was decided to stay the night to reach an agreement with the Armenians.

After Maghrib and Isha prayers, the Armenian delegation came and we negotiated again. We did not reach the result because of the new proposals of the Azeri. With general instructions, we assigned the experts to prepare the final text. The Azeris returned to the headquarters and we participated in an official ceremony with the Armenians to sign the agreements in the presence of journalists.

Then I went to the banquet meeting. Efat also gave a dinner to the wife of the President of Armenia at Naft Guest House. At the dinner table, I asked many questions about the situation in Armenia. Their relations with Russia are not bad and, unlike others, they are optimistic about Russia's future. They expect to get a good share in the division of the armed forces. They also have a good relationship with Syria. They have problems with fuel, food and work. Due to the closure of their way from Azerbaijan and because of this weakness, they want peace. It was decided that both delegations will come tomorrow at eight o'clock in the morning to approve and sign the final text of the reconciliation letter.

I stayed in my office at night. I slept at twelve o'clock at night. In the reports, the news of the escape of [Abdul Rahman] Nabi Ouf, the president of Tajikistan, under the pressure of his Islamic and democratic opposition rivals and the lack of agreement between Hekmatyar and the allies in Afghanistan is the most important.