Memories of Akbar Hashemi - May 14, 2002

The new Iranian aide in Iraq consulted about positions on numerous issues between Iran and Iraq such as prisoners, the Arvand River, border markers, aircraft, war damages, trade, air communication, and pilgrims.

The reformist newspapers are still maneuvering by bringing up Mr. Khatami's resignation, and a news website, citing German intelligence, reported on the discovery of an assassination attempt against Mr. Khatami.

Complete text of the daily report:

Until the evening, I worked on the remaining tasks and read the bulletins. In the evening, Mr. [Alireza] Haghighian, the new charge d'affaires of Iran in Iraq, came. We consulted about the positions on various issues between Iran and Iraq, such as prisoners, Arvand, border demarcation, airplanes, war damages, trade, air connections, and pilgrims.

Mr. [Asadollah] Amiraslani, the former managing director of the National Bank of Iran, has come. He is very dissatisfied with the judiciary's actions, which have condemned him to 75 lashes that can be bought and ordered the return of 500 million tomans. He said that the board's right to help some bank clients in Dubai has been misused. A portion of the interests has been forgiven, which he attributes to the ignorance of judges and case makers. He stated that the worst economic corruption is the one that destabilizes the country's economy and renders managers ineffective. As an example, he said that during his management in the Reconstruction Government, in addition to the bank's resources, long-term deposits were usually given to applicants to boost the economy, and today, only the National Bank has 8,000 trillion rials of accumulated resources that are not disbursed to applicants due to these ambiguities, strictness, and trials. He is waiting for a verdict to be corrected in the appeals court.

The news agency [Islamic Republic (IRNA)] reports on the cold reception of the people of Mazandaran towards Mr. [Mohammad] Khatami, the [president], who visited there yesterday; including a lack of crowd along the route, protests by workers on the way, 'egg throwing' at his car, and the sparsity of the location of the speech in Sari as well as in Qaemshahr, in addition to the continuous slogans of the youth 'Khatami, Khatami, unemployment, unemployment' and also the protests of the workers from the textile factories of Qaemshahr due to the factory's recession and not receiving their wages.

In Abadan, a house that had explosives has exploded and five people have been killed. In Miandoab and Piranshahr, two people have also been killed due to explosions. Flooding in Fariman and Fayzabad has caused destruction.

The reformist newspapers are still maneuvering with the mention of Mr. Khatami's resignation, and a news outlet, citing German intelligence, has reported on the discovery of a plot against Mr. Khatami.

The Likud Party of Israel has opposed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In America, explosives have been discovered in a truck belonging to two Israeli individuals.