Part of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's diary entry on Sunday, March 24, 2002

The council elections are the main topic of discussion in political circles and the media, and the right wing is inactive. The Freedom Movement has also given a list and said that Engineer [Ezzatollah] Sahabi’s statements are related to a part of the religious nationalists and not all of them, and the Mellat Party has boycotted the elections.

Mohsen Sazagara, who was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence and went on a hunger strike five days ago, has been released. This has embarrassed the Khordadites, who usually attack the judiciary in such cases. Ahmad, the son of Ayatollah Montazeri, says that his father was on his way to Tehran for a medical examination, but they were deterred because the security forces wanted him to accompany them in a car.

Mr. Masih Mohajeri, [Advisor to the President and Managing Editor of the Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper], came. He criticized the government and parliament for not having taken the necessary steps, according to the leadership, to oppose the participation of religious nationalists in the council elections. The situation of nuclear industries and possible dangers from the West were discussed. I said that we might have a conflict with America on this issue.