Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 9, 1997

The community of preachers came to Tehran. Mr. [Mohammed] Momeni Shahmirzadi reported. He honored my role in the revolution, defense and construction and presented a plaque of appreciation to the community and preachers. I talked about the fundamental role of the clergy in the society and the role of leadership and guardianship, and I paid attention to the conspiracies that are going on to weaken the guardianship and the clergy and defended them.

Last night, the leadership expressed their expectations about defending this invasion.

Mr. [Hasan] Shafti, the CEO of [Islamic Republic of Iran Airlines] came to Homa. He thanked the support with exaggeration and said that now he spends a lot of time reading my books and that Mr. Turkan did not agree to approve the purchase of Airbus planes at the end of his career. He asked me to help meet this need.

Mr. Khalilian, Acting Governor of Tehran came. He said that it is possible that he will be a candidate for the governorship and asked for my opinion in this regard. Asr Timsar [Ali] Shamkhani, [Minister of Defense] came. He expressed his concern about Mr. Khatami's lack of familiarity with economic issues and the lack of appropriate action in foreign policy, which may cause people's discouragement and the government's weakness after the government's short honeymoon. He said, Mr. Khatami relies too much on the opinions of Mr. [Mohammed] Bagherian, [Secretary General of the Organization of Administrative and Employment Affairs], who is also crude. He complains about the fact that, as a leader, for the commander of the Islamic Republic Army's Navy, his effective service in the forces was not taken into account.

Mr. [Reza] Amrullahi came. He complained that Mr. Khatami attributed his lack of introduction to the opinion of the leadership and said that experts are discouraged because of the lack of expertise of Mr. [Gholamreza] Aghazadeh, [head of the Atomic Energy Organization] for this position. In the evening, with the coordination of the leadership office, Mr. Mohsen Rezaei's secretarial decree was written [for the Expediency Recognition Council]. In order to leave the IRGC, it was necessary for him to have a responsibility in relation to me or leadership.