A very important one-on-one meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei, as recounted by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday, December 23, 2003.

Hashemi Rafsanjani writes in a part of his diary entry for December 23, 2003:

"... I went to the Leader's residence; he is slightly indisposed. They reported that the United States, through our ambassador in New York, Mr. Zarif, has sent a message to the Leader and Mr. Khatami requesting that we send someone to negotiate with the Director of the CIA in a third country, as they have a very important matter to discuss.

The Leader asked the Security Council to provide their consensus, which they did, and he approved it! It has been decided that [Gholam-Hossein] Iravani, the Deputy Minister of Intelligence {Deputy for Foreign Intelligence}, will go to Geneva. They speculate the subject might be related to Al-Qaeda. I said they have made a good decision; it could also involve the issues of Iraq, Afghanistan, and other matters.

He stated: The reason why, contrary to past instances, they accepted this time is that they anticipate potentially harsh developments might arise and did not want to be solely responsible for such a situation.

He expressed concern over the allegation that Bin Laden is in Iran and said this is likely the prelude to the execution of a conspiracy.

He is dissatisfied with Mr. Karroubi's remarks in response to Mr. Meshkini's statements, noting that it is probable the '2nd of Khordad' [Reformist] faction might take a shocking action in response to their [candidates'] disqualifications."