Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - February 4, 2000 - Advice to Faezeh Hashemi for Moderation in Statements and Criticism Against Reformists

• Advice to Faezeh Hashemi for Moderation in Statements and Criticism Against Reformists
• Hashemi's Study at Home on the History of the Three Islands and Final Editing of the 1982 Diaries
• Continuation of the Seminary Students' Sit-in Protesting Nikahang Kowsar's Cartoon in Azad Newspaper
• Further Periodic Medical Examinations by Dr. Ahad Milani Nia

In Austria, the People's Party has formed a coalition government with the Freedom Party. Due to the extremist positions of the Freedom Party's leader, Mr. Jörg Haider, who is associated with Nazi ideologies, the European Union has threatened to sever political relations with Austria, and Israel has announced the recall of its ambassador. These threats were enforced today.

In Indonesia, President [Abdurrahman Wahid] has decided to remove General Wiranto from his position as the head of security, due to his involvement in the East Timor crisis. This decision has faced pushback from part of the military, though Western powers have encouraged him to take this action, given his pro-Western leanings. In Iraq, the periodic bombings by American and British planes continue under the pretext of Iraqi radar movements.

I spent the day at home. Part of my time was dedicated to studying the history of the three islands—Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Another part of my day was spent editing the final text of the 1982 memoirs. After the initial preparation, typing, and meticulous comparison with the original text by Mohsen, the director of the Office of the Revolution’s Ideological Publications, Fatemeh is working on editing and adding footnotes with the help of Mr. Basem Shariatmadar. The children gathered for lunch, and much of the conversation revolved around election issues.

In the evening, Faezeh [Hashemi, Tehran's representative] visited. She mentioned that most of her time is now dedicated to election campaigning. I advised her to refrain from harsh attacks on both left and right factions. Recently, she has been frustrated with the reformists and has been lashing out against them in her speeches and interviews. She also shared that Mr. [Mohammad Ali] Abtahi, head of the office of President [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami, had asked her to tone down her rhetoric, but she responded that she is merely reciprocating their attacks.

The seminary students' sit-in in Qom continues. In their second statement, they announced that Mr. Khatami had ordered the suspension of Azad newspaper, but they deemed it insufficient, demanding the dismissal of Mr. [Ataollah] Mohajerani, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance. After Friday prayers in Tehran and Qom, several groups marched in support of the protesting seminary students. In many Friday prayers across the country, speeches were delivered against the Minister of Culture.

In the afternoon, Dr. [Ahad] Milani Nia came. He removed the Holter monitor and explained its performance. I handed him the detailed notes I had made over the past 24 hours, documenting my physical activities and feelings during the monitoring period. Meanwhile, some U.S. officials have recently spoken about the perceived threat posed by Iran.