Akbar Hashemi's memories - November 19, 2002

Dr. Rouhani, [Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council] has suggested to the leadership that if America starts attacking Iraq, it is better to interact with America for the future of Iraq and the region indirectly, which the leadership has opposed and expressed dissatisfaction with its inclusion in the report.  Mr. Rouhani answered that this is the opinion of all experts and criticized the leadership for their strict positions.

Full text of the newspaper:

Before noon, the Infrastructure Commission [Assembly for the Expediency of the System] had a meeting.  There was a discussion about agricultural subsidies and ways to export agricultural products and profitability of this sector.  

In the evening, we had a meeting with the deputies of the Strategic Research Center of the Assembly, and they were my guests for iftar.  The main discussion was on the issue of universities and the effects of the Aghajari ruling and the solution to the incident and compensation for the court's mistake, and that the counter-revolution is abusing this ruling a lot.  Mr. [Hossein] Mahluji had brought the request of [Iyad] Alawi, one of the heads of the Iraqi opposition, for a meeting;  I postponed the answer until later.

After breaking the fast, we had detailed discussions with Dr. [Hasan] Rouhani, [Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council];  Regarding the special industries and the insistence of [Mohammed El Baradei], the Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to visit the nuclear fuel enrichment centers in Isfahan and Kashan and the ways to save them, as well as how to deal with the ongoing unrest in the universities, which are becoming more intense day by day in opposition to the legal authority. He said that the Supreme National Security Council has approved  To deal with the instigators and also about the future of the country's management considering the possible incidents related to the two government bills.   Regarding the issue of Iraq in the event of a war, he said, the Security Council has suggested to the leadership that if the United States starts an attack, it is better to interact with the United States indirectly for the future of Iraq and the region, which the leadership opposed and expressed their disapproval of including it in the report.  Mr. Rouhani answered that this is the opinion of all experts and criticized the leadership for their strict positions.  

Today, there was a gathering in a number of universities of the country in relation to the opposition to the court ruling of [Hashem] Aghajari, [a member of the Central Council of the Mojahedin Organization of the Islamic Revolution], and Basiji students gathered in Tehran University to oppose them. The Ministry of Science has informed all the universities of the country that they do not have the right to suspend classes.  
The verdict of Shahram Jazairi court was announced yesterday that he was sentenced to 27 years in prison and confiscation of property, and another group to prison and return the money they took from him.  
Last night, the sky rained meteors.