Part of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's diary entry on Saturday, March 23, 2002

We went to the leadership's office at nine in the morning. The heads of the three branches were also there. The leadership complained about the inefficiency of the heads of the three branches in fighting economic corruption and said that they expected them to take a more serious approach after all this emphasis. They asked that the meetings of the leaders with my presence be increased for this purpose and also to monitor the issues of Iraq, considering the seriousness of the threat of an American attack.

Mr. [Seyed Mohammad] Khatami, [President], also criticized the pressure that the oversight organizations have put on the executive directors and said that in one ministry, 77 people have been prosecuted, about 70 of whom were cleared of charges before the court, and of the few others, only two were convicted, and this has caused the directors to lose the courage to make decisions.

The leadership said that the reports of experts and managers to higher authorities are incorrect and provocative in some cases; for example, [Mr. Ahmad Masjed Jamei], the Minister of [Culture and] [Islamic] Guidance, told them that the author of a book had been prosecuted for comparing the leadership to red blood cells and that the book had been banned from publication. However, after the leadership’s office investigated, it turned out that the book was full of various insults to the leadership and officials, and they read examples.

I said that the heads of power do not raise serious issues in their meetings because they do not trust each other, and the discussions in the meeting usually leak out and create an atmosphere.

In the afternoon, Mr. Mohamed ElBaradei, [the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency], came. He said that after seeing the work done in Natanz, he was convinced that Iran had joined several countries with nuclear technology, and that this would cause a stir in the United States and others, and that it was necessary for Iran to fully consider transparency in its reports and accept the Additional Protocol. I said that if the Agency and others respect Iran's right to enjoy peaceful nuclear interests and the Agency fulfills its duty to encourage and help other countries to have nuclear industries, Iran will also accept it. Regarding Iraq, he said that if Saddam does not accept complete disarmament, war is certain and America cannot return empty-handed.

The names of those killed in the Ilyushin [plane] crash were announced. A large number of them are from Rafsanjan; because they were personnel of the 41st Sarollah Division. Three days of public mourning have been declared in Kerman [province]. In a meeting with the leadership, it was said that both Zahedan and Kerman airports told the pilot to return to Zahedan due to unfavorable weather, but the pilot, relying on his skills, decided to continue on his way. He had previously encountered problems on the way to Mashhad and had made an emergency landing of the same plane at the airport.