Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 17, 1998

The Council of the Discernment Council had a meeting. Economic security is on the agenda. The discussion in general took all the time; It is a difficult issue. After the meeting, Mr. [Mohammed] Yazdi, [Head of the Judiciary] and Mr. [Qorban Ali] Dori [Najafabadi, Minister of Information], invited me to arbitration; Regarding the replacement of [Mr. Shahidi], the Director General of Information of Isfahan Province, who has been told by the leadership, should not be replaced. Mr. [Hossein] Mazaheri, [President of Isfahan Seminary], wants to stay and Mr. [Syed Jalaluddin] Taheri, [Imam Juma of Isfahan], wants to be replaced. Mr. Dori says, [Mr. Seyed Mohammad Khatami], the president, is pursuing his replacement. I said, if the leadership insists, they should tell Mr. Khatami to agree to his stay.

In the evening Mr. Kamal Kharazi, [Minister of Foreign Affairs] came. He gave explanations about the trip to New York and then Syria and Turkey, and the issue of [Salman] Rushdi and the improvement of relations with England and the issues we have with the United States, and the mediation between Turkey and Syria, which the Syrians are more willing to do. Egypt should be active in mediation, because it is behind the Arabs, and said, [Abdullah] Ocalan, the leader of the PKK [= Turkey's Kurdish Workers Party], has left Syria, and since Syria says, the issues of the Euphrates water and the ownership of their cities, etc., should also be on the agenda for negotiations. There is still danger.

Regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said, we are moving towards the resolution of the tension and he is evaluating the change of commanders of the Pakistani army in order to get closer to Iran. He said that the train carrying weapons that was discovered in Kyrgyzstan was coordinated by the government of Kyrgyzstan, because they have differences among themselves, the opposing faction has made a disclosure. Regarding the relationship with Egypt, they have not yet reached an agreed formula. He considers the issue of [Helmut] Hofer, the German [merchant] and the execution of Baha'is to be a disturbance in foreign policy, and he appealed to remove the obstacles.

Mr. [Ebrahim] Rahimpour, our new ambassador in Austria, came. He gave the report of his past work and consulted for the new mission. Mr. [Mohammed] Jalal Faruzandeh [Firouznia], our new ambassador in Bahrain, came. He said, the renewal of relations is the product of my trip to Bahrain and consulted on the priorities of dealing with Bahrain. I said, we should gain their trust with kindness and have an effective presence among the people of Bahrain, especially the Shiite majority, with an effective commercial presence.

In the evening Mr. [Abbas Waez] Tabasi, [Tulit Astan Quds Razavi] came. He thanked for the recent interview [in support of the Guardian Council] and said that it had a positive effect and we negotiated about elections and economic security. They wanted to travel to Khorasan in Azar.