Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - September 24, 2002

General Qassem Soleimani came. He made comments on the participation of the Iraqi Supreme Council in the overthrow of Saddam, and reported on the situation in Palestine, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, and said that one of Bin Laden's children and his companions, who had come to Iran from Pakistan, had been returned to Pakistan.

The seminar of the splinter group for the consolidation of unity began with a message from the leadership and ended with a message from Mr. Karroubi, the speaker of the council. A group of people from the left and right gave speeches, and now the main consolidation group is angry about why the left and right, the leadership, and the council have given official recognition to the splinter groups.

Full text of the daily:

Mr. Mohsen Rezaei, [Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council] came. He had questions about the work of the secretariat and the bylaws of supervision and the leadership's opinion on this matter. Mr. [Fakhreddine] Anwar and Dashti, the managing director of the Qeshm Free Zone, and his deputy came.They complained about the government’s lack of attention to Qeshm, the closure of Qeshm’s sources of income, and the failure to provide infrastructure facilities. They asked for help to build the Persian Gulf bridge, complete the pier, and reactivate the ship refueling center that was established during the time of Mr. [Behrouz] Bushehri and has recently been closed.

Mr. Sadegh Kharrazi came. He has become the ambassador to France. He complains about being dismissed from the position of deputy [education and research] of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In general, he criticized the lack of attention paid by the country’s officials to the construction programs that were a priority in my government, and suggested that I go to France at the invitation of Mr. [Jacques] Chirac. He suggested forming a group of former heads of important countries to influence international policies.

The era of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, came.Regarding the participation of the Supreme Council of the [Islamic Revolution] of Iraq in the overthrow of Saddam [Hussein], he presented his views and reported on the situation in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan, and said, [Saad bin Laden], one of the sons of [Osama] bin Laden, [the leader of the al-Qaeda group], and his companions who had come to Iran from Pakistan, have been returned to Pakistan. He said, armed resistance against America has been formed in Kabul. Several operations are carried out daily, and hatred of America is gradually rising, and the weakness of the government and foreign forces in fulfilling their promises is angering the people.

The Sustainable Development Conference is being held in South Africa with the participation of 100 heads of state and delegations from other countries with the presence of 40,000 people, and criticisms are being raised about American policies in the areas of the environment, subsidies and international trade.

In the past few days, the splinter group of the Takhkim Wahdat Office held a seminar in Sari.It started with the leadership’s message and ended with the message of [Mr. Mehdi Karroubi], the speaker of the parliament. A group of people from the left and the right gave speeches, and now the main group of consolidation is angry that the left and the right, the leadership, and the parliament have given official recognition to the secessionists, and their member Islamic associations are issuing statements one after another, attacking the leadership, the parliament, the Sharqat [Party], the Mojahedin of the Revolution, and the Second Khordadites, and describing them as incapable of fulfilling their promises.

In the United States, George [Herbert Walker] Bush, the president's father and former president, has joined the ranks of those opposed to a military attack on Iraq, and Vice President Dick Cheney has said that there is no other way left to remove Saddam [Hussein, President of Iraq] except through a military attack, and Congress, which is currently examining the issue, is saying that war should not begin without congressional approval