Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - December 2, 2002

The Board of Directors of the Carpet Sellers' Union believe that government interventions and the extensive presence of China and India have caused a recession in Iran's carpet market. The country's General Prosecutor's Office has drawn criticism due to the Judiciary's weak performance in combating economic corruption and practicing discrimination in the Shahram Jazayeri case.

Full Daily Note: Mr. [Majid] Qasemi, the former head of the Central Bank, came. He sought consultation about accepting the Vice Presidency for Economic Affairs that was recently offered to him. [Messrs. Faghihi, Chitsaz, Rokhsafat, Neyshabouri, and Nahidi], the Board of Directors of the Carpet Sellers' Union, came and expressed concern about the crisis in the carpet industry. They believe that government interventions and the extensive presence of China and India have caused a recession in Iran's carpet market. They requested assistance. Mr. Hossein Rahmani, [from the Tehran Friday Prayer Headquarters], came. He has dedicated his house as a center for religious knowledge (Ma'aref-e Dini) for his martyred son and has incurred debt for its construction; he requested assistance to pay the debt. He was supposed to use cheap bank facilities but was unable to. The country's General Prosecutor's Office has drawn criticism due to the Judiciary's weak performance in combating economic corruption and practicing discrimination in the Shahram Jazayeri case, where weak individuals like the sons of Messrs. Dori [Najafabadi] and [Mahmoud] Rastegari were convicted, while a group of leaders and Majlis representatives were not. Ayatollah [Ali] Meshkini, [Qom Friday Prayer Leader and Head of the Assembly of Experts], spoke about four branches of power in the country during his Friday sermon, naming the Expediency Discernment Council [EDC] as one of them, which provided an excuse for the anti-revolutionaries and the Second of Khordad faction to attack him and the EDC for consecutive days. They were upset by his multiple statements against the Second of Khordad extremists. The European Parliament has taken a position in favor of Mr. [Hashem] Aghajari and the recent bills of Mr. Khatami's government. Some say there seems to be coordination in secret. It was reported in the media that Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi Ambassador to England, has been summoned to a US court in connection with aiding Al-Qaeda terrorists. Yesterday and today, there were armed clashes between rival groups in western Afghanistan, resulting in several casualties (dead and wounded). American military aircraft also bombed a location there. In Kabul, six powerful time bombs, which were planted for sabotage, were discovered. We broke our fast (Iftar) with other family members at Faezeh's place. Snow and rain continue in most parts of the country.