The Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - December 29, 2002

Report of a busy one-day trip to Tabriz: Inauguration of the congress for the birth centenary of Allameh Tabataba'i, visiting the construction of the Tabriz Metro, etc.

Sheikh Hossein Ebrahimi Dinani, a peer from my studies in Qom, reminded me that in my youth in Mashhad, I wrestled with Mr. Alavi Yazdi, a wrestling champion; I pinned him once, and he pinned me once.

The Governor complained about the Leadership's apparatus, stating they do not help solve the city's problems. I said this situation exists in many cities and Tehran as well. Wherever important projects reach properties or jurisdictions under the control of institutions supervised by the Leadership, the work hits a dead end and they cannot resolve it.

Full Text of the Journal:

At 7:30 AM, we flew from Mehrabad Airport to Tabriz. During the flight, I discussed provincial issues and the 2003 budget with Dr. [Ismail] Jabbarzadeh, [Representative of Tabriz and] head of the East Azerbaijan representatives' assembly and member of the central council of the [Construction] Kargozaran [Party]. He is critical of the slowing pace of construction and views the development aspect of next year's budget as weak. He requested that we be prepared in the [Expediency] Discernment Council to approve resources that Parliament might add from foreign sources for development projects.

At Tabriz airport, officials and clerics welcomed us. The weather was very cold: 14 degrees below zero. A short interview was conducted. We went straight to the University of Tabriz for the congress of the 100th anniversary of Allameh Tabataba'i's birth. It was held in the university amphitheater. It started at 9:30 AM with a half-hour delay. There were ceremonies and welcomes by Mr. [Mohammad-Reza Mir] Tajeddini (the secretary of the headquarters), Dr. [Seyyed Mehdi] Khamoushi (head of the Islamic Propagation Organization), [Mr. Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari] (Imam of Friday Prayer of Tabriz), and [Mr. Mohammad-Ali Sobhan-ollahi] (Governor of East Azerbaijan), which usually turned into speeches. Then, I gave a detailed speech regarding the position of Azerbaijan and Tabriz, the scholars of Azerbaijan, the seminaries, and then Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad Hossein] Tabataba'i himself, from the perspectives of philosophy, interpretation, and social sciences. It ended near noon. Agha Seyyed Abdul-Baqi (his son) and some of the family's ladies came by and I greeted them.

We went to visit the construction of the Tabriz Metro, which has recently begun. [Mr. Ebadullah Fathollahi] the Mayor and [Mr. Ali Khoshravan] the Metro Director gave a progress report. The total plan is about 40 kilometers, with the first line of 18 kilometers under construction. Half the budget is provided by the government and the other half by the Tabriz Municipality. They thanked me for supporting the metro industry in Iran and highlighting it in Friday prayer sermons for Tehran and five other Iranian metropolises, including Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Karaj, and Tabriz. We went to the house of Mr. [Mohsen Mojtahed] Shabestari, the Imam of Friday Prayer, for lunch and visiting. At the table, Sheikh Hossein Ebrahimi Dinani, who was a peer from my studies in Qom and is now a professor of philosophy at [Tehran] University, was beside me. He reminded me that in my youth in Mashhad, I wrestled with Mr. Alavi Yazdi, a wrestling champion; I pinned him once and he pinned me once.

I asked Mr. [Seyyed Mustafa] Mohaghegh Damad, who was there, about his recent comments regarding the revival of the Prosecutor's Offices. He said he is not opposed to the principle itself, but is opposed to the method in which Mr. [Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi] Shahroudi [Head of the Judiciary] is operating. In a gathering of clerics and Friday Imams, Mr. Shabestari offered a welcome, and I spoke about the role and duties of the clergy, America's adventurism, and America's own weaknesses.

We went to the Governor’s office. On the way, we visited the Army [21st Hamzeh Division] barracks, which has blocked the passage of the city's central highway. Mr. [Mohammad-Ali] Sobhan-ollahi, the Governor, complained about the Leadership's apparatus, saying they do not help solve the city's problems, even though the province is ready to build a barracks for the Army elsewhere. I said this situation exists in many cities and Tehran as well. Wherever important projects reach properties or jurisdictions under the control of institutions supervised by the Leadership, the work hits a dead end and they cannot resolve it. In Tehran, several highways and even the metro are suffering from this situation.

At the Governor’s office, in a meeting with members of the Provincial Security Council, we [discussed] the political and security issues of the province. They said the trend of people's participation in elections is declining and some individuals are fueling Pan-Turkism—citing issues like Babak Khorramdin, etc.—and they feel a lack of attention to the issues of the province and Azeris. I said if the policy of construction (development) is prioritized, such issues would not matter to the people, just as we witnessed the peak of people's presence in the presidential election [on May 23, 1997] as a result of the development and vibrancy of the people at the end of the term, after which it took a downward path.

After the Maghrib and Isha prayers, I participated in a meeting of provincial managers. They explained four important projects and requested help to solve their problems:

1. The project for producing aluminum powder from nepheline syenite mines, which started during the Construction Era and is now stagnant.

2. The IT project, for which the province has been designated as a pilot.

3. The project to restore Rab'-e Rashidi, which was built 700 years ago in northeast Tabriz as a model international scientific, research, and medical city and was gradually destroyed, and it has many endowments (waqfs).

4. Converting the Jolfa Special Zone into a Free Trade Zone.

I criticized the lack of attention to development in the country and noted the province's important projects, including the Zanjan-Tabriz and then Tabriz-Bazargan highways and the development of the south of the Aras River.

After dinner, a short interview was conducted, and we went to the airport. We were home by 10:30 PM. Due to extreme exhaustion, I developed a fever and chills and went to sleep immediately.