Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 8, 1992

After the morning prayer, I did the rest of the work so that I don't have any backlog of work to travel to Turkmenistan. Around eight in the morning, Dr. Velayati, [Minister of Foreign Affairs] came and gave a report on the work of the experts. They negotiated until 3:30 in the morning last night and could not reach a final result.

At quarter past eight, two delegations arrived. After an hour of negotiation, we reached a conclusion and agreed on the text. The important points are the achievement of a one-week ceasefire, the visit of Iran's special envoy next week, and the lifting of the blockade from Armenia, except for military goods, and the quality of negotiations with the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In an official and public ceremony, three of us signed the text of the document. After short interviews, we left for the airport. Unlike the previous guests, I did not go with the guests on the way, because if I want to go with both of them, it is too time-consuming.

I reached the [Mehrabad] airport before both of them. First, I saw off the Azari guests after the interview. Then the Armenian guests who were going to Isfahan. We sent the Armenians to see the carpet museum to get an opportunity to carry out the program of the ceremony.

Before signing the agreement, the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan called from Baku and talked to Mr. Nahavandian, our ambassador, and informed that this morning, Armenians have attacked the city of Shusha from several sides and are advancing. He wanted me to tell the Armenians to stop them.

At the airport, they gave the news to Mohammadov. I promised to act quickly to stop the conflict. Then I discussed the issue with the Armenians; They were a little ashamed and said that it was probably started by the Azeris and they said that they did not know. They immediately spoke to Yerevan on the phone and requested to stop the war. The principle of conflict was confirmed, but not to that extent; The important thing was their surprise and admiration for my patience, that I endured hours of boring notes and brought together conflicting opinions.

In between the negotiations, I used the opportunity to vote in the second phase of the elections of the Tehran Parliament, and went to Imam Khomeini's Hosseiniyeh (RA). I came home after seeing off the guests.

In the evening, I asked the Minister of Interior over the phone about the status of the elections. He said that it will be held quietly and regularly and the participation of people is more than expected. Although not as much as the first stage. In addition, it seems to him that like the first stage, most of the votes are from the community of militant clerics, and the assembly of militant clerics is probably in a worse situation than the first stage. When [Abdul Rahman] Nabi Ouf appeared on Tajik TV, the rumor of his escape was denied.