Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 13, 1998

With the limited retreat of the Serbian president, the risk of war has decreased. The brotherhood of Muhammad came. He talked about the situation of Noq and the abundance of pistachios and the lack of buyers and the cheap price, and the report of the decision of [the Party] of [Construction] brokers, to give a list in the elections and their problem in Kerman, because of the anti-broker position of Ashikh Mohammad [Hashemian]. I said, it would be better if you put him on the list. They have problems in several other areas. He said, Mr. Khatami mentioned the problems of the country in the [meeting] of the government and said that if it were not for the task, I would not have continued and this has had a bad effect on the ministers.

The wife and mother of Morteza Firouzi, [editor of Iran News newspaper] came. In order to save him [from the court's verdict], they appealed by expressing their loyalty. My heart burned; I consoled them. They are satisfied with Mr. [Mohammed] Yazdi, [Head of the Judiciary]. [Mr. Moqdad Najaf Nejad], the representative of Babolsar [and Faridunknar] came. He expressed his sadness about the stagnation of the country and the closure of construction works and the high cost, and he praised the prosperity during the construction period and said that the people of Mazandaran have given up hope for the implementation of the huge national canal project from Astara to Gonbad that you had presented. consulted about the vote on the budget amendment and also consulted about the fund that they have created with the capital of businessmen to strengthen business; I wrote a sentence.

Mr. Ashikh Hassan Saneyi, [Chairman of Panzdeh Khordad Foundation] called. I told him to tell his brother Ashikh Youssef to make a statement about the elections. Mr. Masih Mohajeri informed me by phone that he gave my message to Mr. [Mohammed] Fazel Lankarani and he gave a good message and asked me to tell Sedavasima to broadcast it tonight so that it will be the first. I said, it was played.

In the evening, Mr. [Alireza] Mahjoub, [Tehran's representative and] Secretary General of Khane Kargar, came to consult with the experts on how to proceed regarding [the parliamentary elections]. They don't have a list, but they were supposed to have bold advertisements. Talking about the bad economic situation and the losses of the budget amendment, today everyone can understand the value of the works of that period by comparing the performance of the construction government.

Mr. Taha Hashemi, the representative of Qom, came and said, in a group from the left and the right, after an investigation, they have come to the opinion that the participation of the people in the elections of experts is low and it is better to delay the elections until the time of the Majlis elections. I explained the disadvantages of this action and opposed it. Salmani came for correction.