Memories of Akbar Hashemi - November 28, 2001

Meeting of the Central Council members of the Islamic Coalition Party.

Meeting with the family and personnel of the Bomb Disposal and Neutralization Team of the IRGC.

Bijan Namdar Zangeneh's summons to court has been rescinded with a note that failure to appear will result in his arrest, and interestingly, the news of his summons was later denied through negotiations.

Complete journal entry:

A number of members of the Central Council of the [Islamic] Coalition Party, including Mr. Asadollah Badamchian, Mr. Abolfazl Tavakoli Bina, Mr. Mohammad Nabi Habibi, Mr. Mohammad Reza Ettehadiyan, and Mr. Javad Maqsoudi, visited. They thanked me for the Friday sermon and for appropriately managing the differences between Parliament and the Guardian Council regarding the three-article bill [Electoral Law Reform]. They had questions about domestic and foreign policies, Afghanistan, and potential dangers for Iran, and they requested an Iftar banquet for the students of the Coalition Party.

Iftar was attended by the personnel of the Bomb Disposal and Neutralization Team of the IRGC along with their families. As usual, I shared the meal with them and welcomed them.

The Bonn Conference [on determining Afghanistan's future] passed its second day, and it is said that an agreement has been reached on the UN's plan for Afghanistan's future. This plan has three main stages:

1. Formation of the High Council
2. Formation of a temporary government
3. Formation of the Loya Jirga and final decisions on Afghanistan's future.

The United States is gradually increasing its military forces in Afghanistan, and the Taliban claimed to have killed 16 Americans around Kandahar. The U.S. has sent a message to Iran through the Swiss Embassy requesting that Iran prevent the return of Mr. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Islamic Party, to Afghanistan.

Mr. Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Oil, sent a copy of his court summons, which warned of an arrest if he did not appear. However, the news of his summons was later denied by the news media.

The Belgian court is taking seriously the Palestinians' lawsuit against Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, for the Sabra and Shatila massacre. A group of Indian parliamentarians today left Parliament in protest of the flight of an American reconnaissance helicopter over India's nuclear industries.

There are reports of the deployment of the U.S. naval fleet off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. claims that some Al-Qaeda forces are in Somalia, which, like Afghanistan, does not have a stable central government.

The U.S. has officially stated that if Iraq does not accept UN weapons inspectors for weapons of mass destruction, it will face military action. Iraq has rejected the U.S. ultimatum, saying it will accept inspectors if sanctions are lifted. At the same time, rumors have emerged about the readiness of Kurds in northern Iraq to seize Kirkuk and its oil fields.