Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - July 4, 2000 - Ali Naqi Khamoushi and Ali Abdollahian Express Confusion Over the State of the Country and Ayatollah Khamenei’s Behavior

The Palestinian Authority has announced that if no agreement is reached with Israel by September, they will unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Israel has responded, saying that if such an action is taken, it will reoccupy the liberated territories. In Mexico, the ruling party, which had been in power for seventy years, was defeated in the elections, while in Mongolia, the Communist Party, which had been marginalized for several years, won a strong majority in the elections.

Mr. [Mohammad] Forouzandeh, [President of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs], along with his colleagues, visited and provided a report on the state of the Foundation. They stated that this year, they are utilizing 170 billion tomans from the public budget for veterans. They also gave an update on the [Tehran] North Highway project, mentioning that significant progress had not been made. They are once again consulting with the French company SETEC ING, which had been the design consultant before the revolution. Changes have been made to the plan, and thus far, around 10 billion tomans have been spent. They requested that I ask the Central Bank to release the foreign exchange funds allocated during the construction government but not yet disbursed, and to approve external or internal financing to fund the project.

Mr. [Ali Naqi] Khamoushi and [Ali] Abdollahian, [President and Vice President of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce], visited and expressed concern about the state of the country. They said that the wise and knowledgeable people still place their hopes in you and that the way forward is to continue the policies of the construction government. They mentioned their confusion about the policies of the Supreme Leader. Mr. Khamoushi said that during a trip to China, following Mr. [Seyed Mohammad] Khatami’s [President of Iran] philosophical and cultural remarks, Mr. Jiang Zemin, [President of China], told him, "I am a mechanical engineer, and I think the people need economic and infrastructural development, not philosophy to solve their problems."

In the afternoon, a group of professors and cultural figures attending the [International] Saadi Commemoration Seminar visited me. Mr. [Abdulaziz Saud] Albabtain, [President of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Poetry], thanked Mr. Yasser Ma for his exceptional efforts in organizing this event. Mr. [Abdelkader] Hajar, former Algerian Ambassador, and Mr. [Mohammad Ali] Taskhiri, [President of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization], also spoke. I delivered a detailed speech on the necessity of political, cultural, and economic cooperation among Islamic countries. It was a friendly and positive atmosphere.