Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Memoirs - December 4, 2002

Mr. Heidari Ghasemi, Deputy Head of the Tehran Judiciary, criticizes the state of the Judiciary and considers the court rulings in [Shahram] Jazayeri's case to be contradictory.

Mr. [Seyed Abbas Hosseini] Ghaem-Maghami said that a disagreement has arisen between Messrs. Mahdavi Kani and Nategh Nouri, and the removal of the management of mosque affairs from Messrs. Mahdavi and Anvari has displeased them. He also criticized the Judiciary and Mr. Shahroudi personally, and criticized the Leader for appointing Mr. [Seyed Mehdi] Khamoushi as the head of the Islamic Propagation Organization, attributing this to the influence of Agha Mojtaba [Khamenei].

Full Diary Text:

Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Asghari, the former ambassador to Bulgaria, came. He expressed appreciation for my recent Friday sermon. Yesterday, Mr. Masih Mohajeri also praised it. He brought a book that confirms my points about Christian Zionism. He described the current atmosphere of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as poor and said that he had criticized Mr. Khatami [President] and Mr. Karroubi [Parliament Speaker] regarding the approach of the 'Second Khordad' faction to the country's fundamental issues, and said that they are also dissatisfied with the extremists of the Second Khordad.

Mr. [Mohammad] Heidari Ghasimi, Deputy Head of the Tehran Judiciary, came. He criticized the state of the Judiciary and said that my speeches among the Tehran judges are helpful. He considers the court rulings in [Shahram] Jazayeri's case to be contradictory. He criticized the check law bill that is currently in Parliament. He is also concerned about the Tehran Prosecutor in case the law on the revival of prosecutors' offices is implemented.

Mr. [Seyed Abbas Hosseini] Ghaem-Maghami came and said that a disagreement has arisen between Messrs. [Mohammad Reza] Mahdavi Kani and [Ali Akbar] Nategh Nouri, and the removal of the management of mosque affairs from Messrs. Mahdavi and [Mahi-ol-Din] Anvari has displeased them, and Mr. Anvari is angry. He asked me to help and prevent the continuation of the disagreement within the Combatant Clergy Association [of Tehran]. He also criticized the Judiciary and Mr. Shahroudi personally, and criticized the Leader for appointing Mr. [Seyed Mehdi] Khamoushi as the head of the Islamic Propagation Organization, attributing this to the influence of Agha Mojtaba [Khamenei].

In the afternoon, athletes [from the Special Patients and] Organ Transplant Team came. They won 56 medals [= 30 gold, 12 silver, and 14 bronze] in the recent Asian Games in Thailand. Mr. [Mohammad] Alipour, the official in charge of the Public Sports [Federation], gave a report, and they expressed gratitude for the tireless support of Fati (Fatemeh Hashemi) and the Foundation for Special Diseases. I also spoke about the need to strengthen public sports and the importance of the victories of the transplant recipients in boosting public morale, and I presented the collective awards. Mr. [Mohsen] Mehr Alizadeh, [Head of the Physical Education Organization], also provided explanations about sports and the turf of Azadi Stadium, and the budget discussion in the government, where the price of each barrel of oil has been set at $23 to increase the Rial resources, even though it was set at $17 this current year.

President Khatami, in an interview, criticized the manner of publicity surrounding the public opinion poll case.

In Afghanistan, an attack on a US military base caused casualties, and [Kim Dae-jung], the President of South Korea, asked the US to amend the consular jurisdiction agreement, under which a US sergeant was acquitted, which has caused public protest.