Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 9, 1999

Messrs. [Morteza] Alviri, [Secretary of the High Council of Free Trade Zones], and [Ali] Ma’navi-Rad came. They gave explanations regarding the parliament’s legislation on free trade zones so that I could help them in pursuing the matter. It had been rejected by the Guardian Council and had been referred to the [Expediency Discernment Council]. It concerns foreign banks and the foreign-exchange operations of banks.

[Mr. Ali Majedi], Deputy Minister of Petroleum, came. He spoke about the division of the Caspian Sea and the purchase of gas from Turkmenistan. He said that your constructive guidance two years ago is proving its value today, and that we are telling the other states bordering the Caspian either that the sea’s resources should be shared jointly, or that each country bordering the sea should have 20 percent of the Caspian. In this way, many of the oil reserves claimed by Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan as belonging to them, some of which they have already transferred to foreign companies, would fall within Iran’s share. Of course, they are resisting, but in any case we are putting forward a clear approach. As for gas, if, based on your proposal, we purchase all of Turkmenistan’s gas, Iran will gain a monopoly over the region’s gas, and a gas pipeline through any route other than Iran would become meaningless; we ourselves would export it. Turkmenistan is also willing to cooperate because of the problems it has encountered with Russia and Ukraine.

In the afternoon, a group of officials responsible for collecting the remains of the Unknown Martyrs came. They sought assistance for the seminar they have coming up [the National Congress Honoring the Seekers of Light] and for establishing an Ashura Cultural Center; they have no resources. Mr. Ansari, the person in charge of the Ekhteyariyeh endowment, had been brought along so that they could obtain land from his endowed properties. It came to nothing because he said that the land had been endowed for the recitation of elegies and religious mourning ceremonies.

In the media, criticism of the judiciary is becoming increasingly fierce, and students from the Office for Strengthening Unity have staged a sit-in in support of Mr. [Mohsen] Kadivar. I told Fa’ezah to prepare a letter to Mrs. Marve Kavakçı, [the veiled female member of the Turkish parliament], and express support for her. The discussion concerning Mr. Karbaschi is also becoming increasingly favorable to him and more heated, and 146 members of parliament have asked the Leader to pardon him.

Messrs. Ahmad Tavakkoli, [director of the newspaper Farda], and [Seyyed Ali-Akbar] Parvaresh, [deputy secretary-general of the Islamic Coalition Party], came. Like their other like-minded colleagues, they explained the political and cultural dangers and asked me to step into the arena and take charge as I had done in the past. They also criticized me over my support for the moderates, the newspaper Zan, and Mr. Karbaschi, and they received strong answers. Mr. Parvaresh said that he had dreamed that I had been very angry with him and had lashed out at him, and he interpreted this as a sign of affection.

I told Mr. Tavakkoli that in his newspaper—which has been shut down—he had been very unfair in his coverage of development projects, portraying the opening of unfinished projects as though they were completed, and that he had also taken a leftist position. I also told him that he had made a blatant false claim about General [Alexander] Haig, [the U.S. Secretary of State], having met with me. He said that he had made amends in the following issue and that the Leader’s Office had also reprimanded him.

Regarding Mr. [Gholamhossein] Karbaschi’s conviction, I said that the sentence was not fair and that such a sentence should not have been issued over reductions in land prices, which are common in most government institutions. He said that, in fact, there had been other offenses, including providing financial assistance for election expenses during parliamentary and presidential elections. I said that it was not clear that the money had come from the municipality’s budget, and where else had others obtained their campaign expenses from?! And you yourself, during the presidential election, did you not receive your campaign expenses from the [Association of Militant Clergy]? Did they have personal money?

While reminding him that he had received a scholarship to study in [England], I said that during the presidential election campaign, contrary to the law, he had used the country’s shortcomings in his campaign, which was prohibited. For this reason, the Election Commission prevented its broadcast, and I told them to allow it to be broadcast.

Regarding the newspaper Zan, I said that it had not published anything contrary to Islamic law, and that its opponents had presented the publication of Farah’s message instead of simply reporting the message as the issue; this was a lie and an injustice.