Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - December 26, 2002

The counter-revolutionary media, and occasionally the reformists, have become confused in response to the statements made yesterday by [Abbas] Abdi and his lawyer in court. I went to the hospital to visit Ayatollah Mirza Javad Tabrizi. During my studies in Qom, I studied the book Qavanin under him; he remembered it well because I was a "questioning" student (mostashkel—one who raises objections or challenges points during a lesson).

Full Text of the Daily Journal:

Aqa Jalal brought Naeen turnips that he had cooked at his house, as per his annual custom; we ate them for breakfast. They are similar to the Nouq turnips we used to consume often in the past.

It has been announced that [Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar [leader of Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan] has joined the forces of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which could make things more difficult for the government of [Hamid] Karzai and the United States. Just two or three days ago, there was another report that Hekmatyar had moved closer to Karzai's government.

The counter-revolutionary media, the U.S., the BBC, and occasionally the reformists, have become confused by the statements made yesterday by [Abbas] Abdi and his lawyer in court. They had pinned their hopes on him to weaken the Islamic system. He has admitted that he made mistakes regarding giving [polling] information to foreigners and proposing issues such as "exiting the government" and a referendum, etc., stating it was a blow to national security. He promised to make amends and rejected the suggestions of his associates that he was under pressure, stating that the behavior of the jailers, interrogators, and judges was friendly. Today's newspapers are presenting this as the "collapse of radicalism."

I read the reports regarding the conference of Iraqi dissidents in London, which was formed to discuss Iraqi issues after the removal of Saddam [Hussein]. Contrary to previous decisions, the American representative—[Zalmay] Khalilzad, the Afghan—was active and influential, and representatives from China, the European Union, and many European countries were present. There were long debates over the share of different factions in the coordination committee, which finally reached 75 people, with the Shia share being 43.

I went to Khatam al-Anbia Hospital to visit Ayatollah Mirza Javad Tabrizi. They said the diagnosis is a blood disorder that is improving, and he is being discharged; initially, they thought it was cancer. They said it might have occurred due to fasting during Ramadan at his advanced age, as he believes the phrase "And that you fast is better for you if you only knew" refers back to the main verse, and for this reason, he fasted.

During my studies in Qom, I studied the book Qavanin under him; he remembered it because I was a questioning student (mostashkel) in class. Ayatollah Tabrizi strongly recommended paying more attention to religious issues and particularly Shia teachings, and mentioned that his son, Sheikh Ja'far, is more interested in the pulpit (preaching) than in studying. Sheikh Ja'far said he has a good pulpit, citing as evidence that during the war at the fronts, two thousand people would gather for his speeches. I jokingly said that this is not good evidence, because at the front, that many people would gather for any speaker. Dr. [Pir-Hossein] Koulivand, the head of the hospital, explained the hospital's situation and mentioned he has a photo with me from Ahvaz during the war.

I worked at the Kushk office until 4:00 PM. In response to the inspectors who saw the production of six thousand chemical bombs in documents and demanded to inspect them, Iraq has said that they were used against Iranian forces in the war, which is a major scandal. Additionally, in Iraq's report, a list of 100 Western companies has been identified as collaborators in the production of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

It was in the news that in the city of Hebron, due to Israel's crimes, candles were not lit for the Christmas ceremony for the first time in two thousand years.