Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Memoirs - November 18, 2002

Members of the Central Council of the Islamic Association of Students presented views on the follow-up of the Leader's proposal regarding economic corruption by students. They are good and optimistic youths, but they have a simplistic view.

Despite the Leader's order to review Aghajari's sentence, students held meetings, demonstrations, and class closures in many universities, and in some of them, insults were directed at the Leader and Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist).

Full Diary Text:

Mr. [Mahmoud] Rastegari came. He complained about the Judiciary, claiming they had wronged his son and the sons of Messrs. Darri [Najafabadi] and [Morteza] Moghtadaei under the influence of the negative atmosphere against the "Aghazadehs" (sons of influential figures). He requested that I start a Tafsir (Quranic exegesis) class for the clerics of Tehran's mosques and spoke about new problems in Kish. Mr. Taghi Ghara'ati, [Director of the Mosque Institute], came. He pleaded for the government's attention and assistance in building mosques in places lacking them.

Members of the Central Council of the Islamic Association of Students came. They presented views on the Islamic Azad University and the follow-up of the Leader's proposal regarding economic corruption by students. They are good and optimistic youths, but they have a simplistic view.

In the afternoon, my colleagues in the cabinets and advisors during the Presidency period, along with their family members, were my guests for Iftar at the Presidential Institution Club.

North Korea officially declared that it possesses nuclear weapons and will continue to do so because of America's bullying policies. Mr. [Ahmet Necdet Sezer], the President of Turkey, proposed Mr. Abdullah Gül, the deputy of the Justice and Development Party, to the parliament as Prime Minister. The Justice Party can form a government alone without coalition with any other party, a situation unprecedented for the past 15 years.

Pakistan's parliament held its first session after three years of closure, and [Pervez] Musharraf was sworn in as President, but they have problems forming a government. Kofi Annan, [UN Secretary-General], proposed that the Cyprus problem be solved by establishing a federal government. Today, according to a 100-year-old tradition, a thousand sheep were led through the streets of Madrid, Spain.

Despite the Leader's order to review the [Hashem Aghajari's death] sentence, students held meetings, demonstrations, and class closures in many universities, and in some of them, insults were directed at the Leader and Velayat-e Faqih, and in some cases, clashes occurred with Basij students, including at Sharif University. Mr. [Seyyed Mahmoud] Hashemi Shahroudi, [Head of the Judiciary], also announced that Aghajari's case, like the rest of the cases, must follow its natural course.

The [UN Security Council] weapons inspectors arrived in Baghdad today.