Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - July 1, 2001 - Meeting with the Friday Imam of Pishva Along with the Junaydi Family and the Custodian of Imamzadeh Jafar, and Advising Hashemi on Ayatollah Khamenei's Behavior with Seyyed Mohammad Khatami

Meeting with the Friday Imam of Pishva Along with the Junaydi Family and the Custodian of Imamzadeh Jafar, and Advising Hashemi on Ayatollah Khamenei's Behavior with Seyyed Mohammad Khatami Like His Behavior with Abolhassan Banisadr

Request for an extended leave of absence from Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who had been transferred to the Expediency Council after serving as the governor of Kurdistan, and complaints about Ayatollah Khamenei’s change of mind regarding the investigation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization and citing the public objection of Jahanbakhsh Mohabbi Nia in a meeting of the Islamic Engineers Society.

Educational-Scientific Meeting with Hossein Rahimzadeh, the then Secretary of the Cabinet

Meeting with Badri Marashi, the Custodian of the Zainabiyeh Library in Rafsanjan

Meeting with Seyyed Mohammad Baqir Shomai, the Dismissed Imam of Komijan in Markazi Province, and Request for Retention in His Position

Full Text of the Daily Entry:

The Friday Imam of Pishva in Varamin, along with the family of the late Junaydi and the custodian of Imamzadeh Jafar, came. They sought assistance for the expenses of the Fatemieh religious school, which has 80 female students. They complained about the lack of decisive action against deviants and expressed their expectation for actions similar to those taken during Imam Khomeini's time against [Abolhassan] Banisadr, the former president of Iran.

Mr. [Mohammad Reza] Rahimi, the former governor of Kurdistan, came. He requested two years of unpaid leave to work in another capacity to solve his life problems; he is an advisor at the Center for Strategic Research of the Expediency Council. He expressed astonishment at the leader's retreat regarding the investigation of [the Broadcasting Organization], stating that many idealistic forces are taken aback. Mr. [Jahanbakhsh] Mohabbi Nia, a representative from Miyandoab and Shahindaj, raised his voice in protest at a meeting of the [Islamic] Engineers Society. Mr. [Hossein] Rahimzadeh, the secretary of the cabinet meetings, came to ask questions regarding foreign policy for his doctoral thesis.

In the afternoon, Badri Khanom Marashi, [the cousin of my wife], accompanied by Efat, was in my office. I donated several books to the Zainabiyeh Library in Rafsanjan, which she manages.

In the evening, Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad Baqir] Shomai, the dismissed Friday Imam of Komijan, came. He expressed dissatisfaction with Mr. [Seyyed Reza] Taqavi, the head of the Council for Friday Prayer Leaders, and [Seyyed Ali] Shahcharaghi. He is well-liked there, and people have refused to follow the new Imam, who is from Golpayegan. He mentioned that before the revolution, he was the cleric in Komijan and said that the first police station seized by the people during the revolution was the Komijan police station. He was imprisoned for a poem he wrote against the Shah and was among the students who were taken along with me to the [Baghshah] barracks in Tehran.

He recounted an interesting memory: when he was released from prison and went to Qom, many students and scholars came to visit at the Safaieh residence. He also attended. Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad [Mohaqqiq] Damad came to visit and said, “Hopefully, we will not have such a meeting with you again.” I replied that hopefully, we will have such a meeting with you, which made the attendees laugh.

Israel attacked one of Syria’s radar centers in Lebanon today, and Hezbollah retaliated in [Shebaa] Farms.