Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - September 17, 2002

The valuable spiritual gift I gave to Muhammad Ali during his visit to Iran

The Leader expressed dissatisfaction that the Saudis, immediately after Mr. Khatami’s return, stated that if the United Nations permitted an attack on Iraq, they would cooperate with the United States, pay half the war costs, and allow the use of Saudi bases. They also mentioned that they had advised Mr. Khatami to visit Yemen, Kuwait, and Bahrain, but not to visit the UAE before a final agreement on the islands.

Full Diary Text:

In the morning, a group of swimmers came. They had won gold, silver, and bronze medals in swimming, diving, and water polo at the Asian Games in China and achieved the runner-up position in Asian water polo. Mr. [Vahid] Moradi, the president of the Swimming Federation, reported and introduced me as the founder of a new transformation in sports. He also reminded me that [Muhammad Ali] Clay, the world boxing champion, had come to meet me, and the two agate and turquoise stones I had given to Clay were mounted on a ring in Mashhad and given to him. I spoke about the importance of sports and strategies to strengthen sports.

Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Mirmohammadi, the representative of Qom and my former office manager, came. He reported on development plans for Qom and problems with work and interference by irresponsible individuals. Mr. Mirghafar Sajadnejad, [former representative of Bostanabad], came. He spoke about his life difficulties and background, as well as the treatment by Mr. [Mohammad] Yazdi, [former head of the judiciary], which led to his dismissal from judgeship and later from being an imam. He sought help and gave examples of his services in Lebanon and Turkey to assist the Imam during his exile.

In the evening, Mr. [Seyyed Abolhassan] Navab, [director of the Qom Seminary Services Center], came with his colleagues. They described the services of the Qom Seminary Services Center to the clergy, including full medical insurance for 94,000 clerics, about half of whom are in Qom, providing loans and installment-based living supplies, housing plans, and a proposal for retirement pensions. They thanked me for establishing these services during my presidency and asked for help in implementing retirement insurance. One of them suggested establishing collective payments from government revenue sources.

In the evening, I was a guest of the Leader. We discussed the situation in Iraq, the planned retreat of [George] Bush, global consensus to pressure Iraq to accept the implementation of UN resolutions, the return of inspectors, and Iraq’s tactical acceptance. The trip of Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami to Saudi Arabia was discussed, where Crown Prince Abdullah said that during his trip to the U.S., he spoke with Bush from a demanding position, and Bush said he hated Zionists, and his current alignment with Israel is under pressure from Zionist lobbies and Congress, which is, of course, unacceptable. In response to Mr. Khatami’s proposal on the necessity of cooperation among the Islamic world, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and OPEC to counter the U.S. threat, Abdullah said it was too late. It is strange that Mr. Khatami did not ask for an explanation of why it was too late. They did not discuss the situation in Iraq or the threat of a U.S. attack, even though everyone thought that was the purpose of the trip.

The Leader expressed dissatisfaction that the Saudis, immediately after Mr. Khatami’s return, announced that if the United Nations permitted an attack on Iraq, they would cooperate with the United States, pay half the war costs, and allow the use of Saudi bases. They also thought that the global judgment would be that these new positions of Saudi Arabia were achieved through negotiations with the President of Iran, and they said they had advised Mr. Khatami to visit Yemen, Kuwait, and Bahrain, but not to visit the UAE before a final agreement on the islands.

We also discussed the insistence of the Second of Khordad movement on two government bills to parliament [= elections and presidential powers] and the risk of sedition. I advised him to order that the necessary land and permits for constructing parking and exits for the Shahid Hemmat metro station, which is inside the Imam Khomeini complex, be provided to the metro company. They expressed dissatisfaction with the unofficial news of the government’s recommendation to the European Union to make trade relations conditional on human rights and security issues.

He referred to his memoirs and said that during his presidency, when he had disagreements with the leftists, in meetings of leaders, usually [Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi], the prime minister, Ahmad Agha, and Mr. [Seyyed Abdolkarim] Mousavi Ardabili were coordinated, and he was in the minority. I sometimes considered their views as well. For this reason, he had seriously become frustrated and decided to step aside; eventually, he resorted to the Quran. A verse about Prophet Yusuf and his brother came up. He had written this and did not fully understand it at the time, but now it has become clear to him.

Iraq has officially written to [Kofi Annan], the UN Secretary-General, accepting the return of inspectors without conditions, but the U.S. immediately said this was a deceptive tactic, while other countries welcomed it. In Afghanistan, several missiles hit the UN office and several missiles hit U.S. military centers. The Prime Minister of Japan has gone to North Korea, and the issue of information about Japanese missing in the war is being attention.