Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – November 6, 1991

At five in the morning, Mehdi and Fereshte went to Mehrabad airport to travel to Australia to continue their studies. Chastity also went away. [Mr. Othman Badrbakhsh], the charge d'affaires of Saudi Arabia, came. He brought me a piece of the inscriptions covering the Holy Kaaba as a gift from Shah Fahd. I criticized the Madrid Peace Conference.

[Mr. Rozak], the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil came. He brought a letter from their president and invited me to the meeting of world leaders for the environment in Brazil. The bilateral relations and their participation in the construction of the Karun dam and the metro [equipment] were discussed. I asked many questions about the administrative and economic situation in Brazil; They have one hundred and twenty billion dollars in foreign debt and high inflation; They are the most indebted country in the world.

The Turkish ambassador came to say goodbye; I bitterly criticized Türkiye's action to seize a ship carrying Iranian weapons and called it the request of America, without any axis or reason. There was no answer.

The Supreme Administrative Council had a meeting. We approved that the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization be separated from the Endowment and be run as an independent organization under the supervision of the Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance. This decision was taken by the order of the leadership and it causes extreme discomfort to the extremists. Their interpretation is that it was done in order to dethrone Mr. [Sidmahdi] Imam Jamarani, while this is not the case.

In the evening, I attended the meeting of the government. After Maghrib prayer, I went to my office and worked until half past seven. I came home at night. Mehdi and Fereshte talked on the phone from Dubai. They will fly from there tonight. They were supposed to fly this morning, but they were late.