Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - November 18, 2001

Periodic meeting with the deputies of the Center for Strategic Research with the presence of Hassan Rouhani
Mohsen Rezaei's consultative meeting on the situation in the region
The meeting of Lotf Ali Eivazi and a report on the activities of the Union of the Islamic Moderation Student Association
Meeting of Abolfazl Tavakoli Bina, Advisor to President Khatami on Trade Affairs
Full text of the diary:
The new phase of the situation in Afghanistan is accompanied by disagreements and bargaining between the United Front, the United States, and the United Nations. At this stage, the United States wants to form another interim government for the final decision, and it seeks the rule of Zahir Shah, and the United Front does not want to lose the reins of affairs, and says that it will form a Loya Jirga in consultation with the United Nations, and then the next steps will be carried out. Rabbani has also remained in Kabul against their will, and it seems that the other groups of the United Front are also willing to keep him in Kabul, and perhaps they are worried that the Jamiat-e-Islami Party will make a move in Kabul.
The Americans claim that they have surrounded the area where [Osama] bin Laden thinks [al-Qaeda leader] is with special forces, while the Taliban and others have contradictory statements about bin Laden's presence in Afghanistan or his departure.

Mr. Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of the Expediency Council, came and said that the United States in Afghanistan is thinking of solving the problem of the passage of oil and gas from Central Asia to the south, taking control of Pakistan's nuclear facilities, establishing bases in western China, India, and eastern Iran, and destroying one of the centers of terrorism.
Mr. [Lotfali] Eivazi, the head of the Union of Moderate Student Associations [Islamic Moderate Movement], came and talked about the weakening of his position at the Islamic Azad University by the influence of Mr. Siadati.  
Mr. [Abolfazl] Tavakoli Bina, [Advisor to the President on Commercial Affairs] came. He asked for help from the girls' seminary of the Quba Mosque and said that they had taken the title deed of the agricultural property of Alborz Qom. Mr. Javad Asim (Tahririan), [a businessman from Tehran], came and explained about the lands in the Hillijard area that had been turned into an industrial park or a warehouse and the proceeds were spent on the Institute for the Protection of the Disabled, and said that his brother Mansour [Asim] had borrowed money from the Stadler Automation Company and sought help in obtaining a bank loan.
In the evening, we had a meeting with the deputies of the [Strategic Expediency Council] Research Center. The discussions are mostly about the situation in Afghanistan and the problems that the United Front has with its members, as well as with the United States, the West, Pakistan and the United Nations. Dr. [Hassan] Rouhani, [head of the Center for Strategic Research and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council], said that the Foreign Ministry's view is that Iran should cooperate with the United Nations to achieve an inclusive government, but the Supreme [National Security] Council's view is that we should try to keep this government united and others will join it. Russia and Iran consider this government to be lawful, because it has representatives in the United Nations and in many countries.