Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - September 11, 2000 - Reactions to Sheikh Mahdi Karroubi's Visit in New York

The trip of Hashemi's family to Mazandaran before his own journey to the province on September 12, 2000, for a brief visit.

Consultative meeting with Mehdi Hashemi and Ali Hashemi, representative of the Sixth Parliament.

Reactions to Sheikh Mahdi Karroubi's visit in New York:

During the reformist government and in the context of President Khatami's trip to New York, discussions about direct negotiations between the two countries emerged, and Bill Clinton took the lead in facing Khatami. However, Khatami reportedly concealed himself to avoid a meeting with Clinton, resulting in the U.S. president shaking hands only with Khatami's bodyguard.

Sheikh Mahdi Karroubi, the Speaker of the Sixth Parliament, also faced U.S. Congress member Aaron Specter during a visit to the Metropolitan Museum while attending the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in New York. He agreed to a brief conversation upon request.

This meeting is the only recorded encounter between the Speaker of the Islamic Republic's Parliament and American officials, and it was not repeated in subsequent parliamentary terms.

Prior to this meeting, several requests for direct negotiations between Iranian parliament members and U.S. senators had been made, including a proposal from Joe Biden, which was followed up through the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Gholam Haidar Ebrahim Bay Salami, the then-President of the National Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, officially sent a letter requesting a meeting to President Khatami, who referred it to Hassan Rouhani, then Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Kamal Kharrazi, the Foreign Minister. However, like other specific referrals, this was seemingly halted and forgotten in the complex bureaucratic decision-making system of the country, as there was no will to achieve it within the real power structure.

Yasser Hashemi's business proposal regarding the export of sand and gravel to Kuwait and the political consultations referred to Hassan Rouhani are also mentioned.

The full entry of the day:

I was at home; I planned to join my family in Mazandaran later. Fatemeh had already left. In the evening, Mehdi and my nephew Ali came. Ali, a representative from Rafsanjan, talked about the drought in Kerman province and the difficulties in sales for the cooperative producers and exporters of pistachios due to a cash shortage, making it challenging to purchase the new pistachio crop. Mehdi, the CEO of the Marine Facilities Engineering Company, criticized the rapid growth of energy consumption in the country and the significant price differences between oil at Iranian ports and European ports.

I attended Friday prayers and delivered a sermon on arrogance and envy, followed by another on current issues, including those in Khorramabad, the Assembly of Experts, and important summits in New York involving world religious leaders and presidents and parliaments.

In foreign media, the meeting and negotiations of Mr. Mahdi Karroubi with four U.S. senators and congressmen have garnered attention, although Mr. Karroubi describes it as an unplanned and coincidental encounter, a claim that the media refutes.

Yasser reported that the Kuwaitis requested the export of one million tons of sand. They insist that Iran help them discover the status of their prisoners in Iraq. I said that Iran also has this unresolved issue with Iraq and that they could discuss it with Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.