Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – November 23, 1997

I had two interviews before noon; One for the Islamic conference with radio and television, which lasted for an hour and a half, and Mr. [Abbas] Maliki and [Mohammed] Nahavandian conducted the interview and asked good questions, and the other one was with the [IRNA] reporter about the internal issues of the government and the [Discernment of Expediency] Assembly and the actions of Ayatollah Montazeri.

In the evening Mr. [Hossein] Malaek, our new ambassador in China, came and got opinions for his work; Especially regarding the pursuit of cooperation issues in the nuclear industry and the construction of power plants and nuclear fuel production factories, in both of which, the Chinese, under the pressure of the United States, are not willing to comply with the agreements that I said should be pursued seriously.

Mr. [Ahmad] Shafi'i, Deputy Minister of Information, came. He talked about the current events of the seminary and the importance of my cooperation with the leadership and appropriate handling of issues that do not associate them with oppression. He suggested that a meeting of the heads of the three powers be held with my presence to compensate for their lack of information and mastery. He said, the agents of the leadership office are happy with my coordination in these new issues. Zohar Fati came and said, the left faction analyzes the current issues as a means of creating problems for the government from the opposition faction; unjustly

I was the guest of the leader. They have a cold. There was a discussion about ways to neutralize the recent poisoning and his speech on Wednesday and next Friday's sermon. They are very satisfied with people's support and think that it is spontaneous. They reported that in the office of Mr. Azari [Qami], the text of a handwritten declaration signed by Mr. Azari was found, which openly attacked the leader as a criminal and cruel and started with the narration (I am going to Sultan Jaber...).