Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – November 21, 1997

I was at home; By reading books, bulletins and news reports. In the evening, Hassan Agha Khomeini came and asked me to help calm the situation in the country after the statements of Mr. Montazeri and Mr. Azari.

Hassan Agha Khomeini said that this thing, which was published as Imam's letter of 1/6/68 to Ayatollah Montazeri, is not the original text of the letter and is a part of it, and he gave the original text of the letter to the leadership last night, and it was given to the newspapers today, which will be published tomorrow. He said, sometimes the authorities of Qom do not have a good opinion of leadership, but Ayatollah Montazeri's statements have changed the situation in favor of leadership.

Today, in most cities, a group of Friday worshipers marched against Mr. Montazeri and Mr. Azari [Qami] and in support of the leadership and gave harsh slogans. Radio broadcasts them. Juma imams, with the support of Veli Faqih, have made sharp attacks on Mr. Montazeri and Azari. Foreign news media also happily magnify these conflicts and usually interpret them to the detriment of the leadership. In Qom, the martyrs' Hussainieh and the offices of Mr. Montazeri and Mr. Azari are still under the control of students, and they regularly publish harsh statements and speak against the country's minister.

Mr. Abdullah Nouri and Mr. Hossein Marashi came. They are worried about the consequences of the current situation. They said, Mr. Jafari Gilani said on my word that for the current issue regarding Ayatollah Montazeri, efforts should be made to resolve the issue completely. Hassan Agha also said the same thing this evening. I said, I have said that it should be done within the framework of the decisions of the Supreme National Security Council.

In the Iraq crisis, the United States continues to strengthen its military forces in the region, and Russia has promised to ease sanctions on Iraq. The visit of the Iraqi foreign minister to Syria after seventeen years of violence, as well as Pakistan's crisis and America's frankness in the stalemate of the Middle East peace issue and its conflict with his other interests in the region are of interest.