Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 29, 1997

In the reports, the new actions of America to pressure Iran are of interest. Mr. [Izzatullah] Akbari, the representative of Qaim Shahr, came; He used to be an employee of my office. He complained to the Corps that he had seized the land allocated for the city's industrial estate. He talked about the growth of unemployment in Mazandaran in recent months and expressed concern about further economic stagnation due to the advertisements of windfalls and the contractionary policies of the government.

Mr. [Hossein] Rahimzadeh, the secretary of the government meetings, came. He brought the draft of a book that summarizes the meetings of my government and organizes the important experiences of this period. He asked me to be interviewed in several cases; I accepted He said, the new government lacks cooperation and decision-making power for transformation, and discussions are usually left to experts, and they do not have an executive solution to implement election slogans and promises.

Mr. Dr. [Sadegh] Vaezzadeh came. He gave a report on the visit of the project under study of the Caspian-Persian Gulf waterway and said that due to the high energy consumption, it may not be economical and suggested the establishment and clearance of a reference for attracting effective technologies. I told him to refer to the center established in the [presidential] institution or cooperate in the strategic research center. He appreciated the important services of the construction period that made Iran proud and said that in recent years, Iranians in Canada were proud of this and explained the powerful and dangerous network of Zionists in crushing the opposition.

[Mr. Shapour Marhaba], representative and governor of Astara came. They appreciated the important construction work of the government in the development of the city, especially the construction of the important port and the development of the villages, which makes the border dwellers proud in front of the Azerbaijan government, and they demanded the creation of a special economic zone and pressure on the [Republic of] Azerbaijan to continue the railway to Astara, Iran.

In the evening Mr. [Mohsen] Rafiq Dost, [Chairman of the Mustafafan and Veterans Foundation] came. He gave a report on the continuation of the Tehran-North freeway construction and complained to the leadership office. He expressed concern about the stagnation of the country's economy and asked me to take action to organize the aligned forces.

[Mr. Abbas Mirhosseini and Abbas Ali Noura], the representatives of Zabul and Zahedan came. They expressed concern about [Mr. Seyyed Mahmoud Hosseini]'s new governor [Sistan and Baluchistan]'s high attention to the Sunnis, which would weaken the Shia, and asked me to make a trip to the region. I said that the trust of the Sunnis should be gained.

Mr. [Abbas] Akhundi, Deputy Minister of Broadcasting, came. He expressed great concern about the chaos of the political and economic situation and the management of the country and the breaking of the sanctity of the leadership and the emergence of doubts about the effectiveness of the system and said that the government, instead of defending and presenting solutions to the country's problems, is more looking for autopsies of problems and propaganda and not solutions. He asked me to seriously discuss this matter with the leadership. He believes that other heads of the forces, Speakers of the Parliament and the Judiciary are also expressing their inability and that the Radio and Television is currently acting passively and does not have a policy of its own and is neutral.