Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 19, 1997

Two of the bodyguards who have run into problems with the Metro Company and the Bank regarding their houses came and appealed for help in solving the problem. Mr. [Ali-Mohammad] Besharati, the former Minister of Interior, came. He has returned from the Umrah pilgrimage. He said he had circumambulated on behalf of all the great figures and scholars of Islam—from the early days of Islam until now—which seems difficult to have done. He criticized the elimination policy of the Ministry of Interior and in general of the new government and expressed concern about the possibility of a political and economic crisis and wanted to work with me. He said he is currently busy organizing his memoirs and historical research notes. It did not seem to me that he was aware of his own indisposition that they say he has fallen into; I did not ask anything either.

Mr. [Hassan] Khavid, [one of the guard bodyguards], came. He has returned from the Umrah. He brought me a clock as a souvenir. Dr. [Abdollah] Jasebi, [President of the Islamic Azad University], came. He expressed concern about the possibility of misuse of the Leadership's remarks in the meeting with the Unity Consolidation Office, in which they said they do not agree with the quantitative expansion of the Islamic Azad University. He wanted me to take an office at the university center and teach a course to strengthen the university. Mr. [Abdol-Majid] Ma'adikhah, [Head of the Foundation for the History of the Islamic Revolution], came. He complained about the Ministry of Intelligence's lack of cooperation in using documents for compiling contemporary history. I told Mr. Dorri, [Minister of Intelligence], by telephone to cooperate.

Major General [Yahya] Rahim-Safavi, [Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards], came. He gave a report on the situation of the Revolutionary Guards and the heaviness of the work. He said that with 130 thousand official members and 300 thousand soldiers and so on, the Revolutionary Guards' annual cost is about 400 billion tomans. He complained about some of the senior commanders who, in the end, harmed the Revolutionary Guards through negligence. He spoke of his own struggle record and expressed concern about the dangers that lurk for Iran from the direction of foreign policy and that around Iran the enemies are busy besieging us, and also about the economic and cultural situation and the extensive purges in the new government. He believes that the senior officials of the Supreme National Security Council do not have the power to sum up and make decisions, and he wanted us to think about it in the [Expediency] Council [of the System]. He thinks that the military men are happy about his replacement by Mr. [Mohsen] Rezaei and will cooperate better, because they do not consider him political.

In the afternoon Fati and the members of the Women's Solidarity Association came. They explained their work and I encouraged them. They took photographs with me. Mr. [Seyyed Mahmoud] Doaei, [Head of the Information Institute], came. He asked me to tell Mr. [Morteza] Mohammadkhan, the former Minister of Economy, to accept the responsibility of the customs that has been offered to him; he has not accepted so far.

Messrs. [Mohammad] Abaei [Khorasani], [Seyyed Hossein] Mousavi Tabrizi, [Mehdi] Mahdavi [Amoli], [Mohammad-Taqi] Fazel Meybodi, [Sheikh Hossein] Hashemian, [Seyyed Mohammad-Ali] Ayazi, and [Seyyed Abolfazl] Mousavian came. They asked me to start teaching a course for seminary students in Qom and expressed concern about the negative effects of the pressures on the Tehran municipality and the fueling of the issue of windfall wealth in the economy and the country's security, and also about the lack of support of the Friday Prayer Imams and the broadcasting organization for Mr. Khatami, [the President], and they asked me to support and to speak with the Leadership to solve the problem of Europe and the municipality.

Mr. [Mohammad] Fallah from the Ministry of Intelligence came. He said that Mr. [Mehdi] Karrubi had told him that they want to participate widely in the Assembly of Experts elections and had asked that the ministry not disrupt their work, and that he had met with Mr. [Ahmad] Azari Qomi and asked him about the reason for distributing the statement against the Leadership's authority, and he had said he considers it his duty and will continue, and he expressed concern about the possible political and economic crises because of the decline in belief in the Guardianship [of the Jurist], because of the election issues and the recent actions of the judiciary and the Kayhan newspaper and [the weekly] Sobh, which are usually attributed to the Leadership, and the weakness of management in the government.

At night I was the guest of the Leadership. There was talk about their trip to Karaj and my and their mountain climbing and my trip to Qom and the many referrals to me about the government and the Assembly of Experts and the future. I proposed that the propaganda about windfall wealth be stopped, which they accepted in principle, but it was arranged that they would examine the method of the work. They said that, unlike others, they are not worried about the situation and they support the government.