Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - April 18, 2001 - Significant Claim by Ali Larijani Citing Saeed Hajarian Regarding the High Likelihood of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami Not Participating in the Presidential Election, Followed by Political-Electoral Proposals

A significant claim by Ali Larijani citing Saeed Hajarian regarding the high likelihood of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami not participating in the presidential election, followed by political-electoral proposals to Hashemi.

Presentation of an extremely important speech by Hojjatoleslam Mojtaba Tehrani on the night of Ashura, with the note that it was also sent to Ayatollah Khamenei, and of course, Hashemi (or the publisher) preferred not to publish the details.

Continuation of the approval of sections of the draft of the system's macro policies regarding national security in the Expediency Discernment Council meeting.

A gathering of members of the Expediency Discernment Council, as is customary after the council meeting, discussing the presidential election with Hashemi.

Meeting with Seyyed Sadr al-Din Shariati, providing a report on the trial of Seyyed Mustafa Tajzadeh and criticism of the report by the General Inspection Organization of the country, headed by Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, regarding the events in Khorramabad.

Consultation and information from Mohsen Rezaei regarding his participation in the presidential election.

Visiting Seyyed Mohammad-Reza Isfahani.

Full Entry:

Mr. Ali Larijani, [the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting], came and quoted Mr. Saeed Hajarian, [a member of the Central Council of the Participation Front and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Sobhe Emruz], stating that Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami is seventy percent unlikely to run for the presidency. Based on this, he suggested that coordination should be established so that the votes of the pro-Velayat forces do not become scattered. Mr. [Ghorbanali] Dori [Najafabadi], [the head of the Administrative Justice Court and a member of the Assembly of Experts], brought a tape of Hojjatoleslam Mojtaba Tehrani's speech for me to listen to. It is his Ashura night speech and he said it contains important matters. A copy has also been sent to the leadership.

The Expediency Discernment Council had a session, and we approved several articles of the macro policies of the Islamic Republic concerning national security. A mourning delegation from the Presidential Office came with chest-beating, eulogizing, and reciting elegies, followed by a speech by Mr. [Ali Akbar] Adab, and then I also gave a short speech to them.

At noon, Messrs. [Abbas Vaez] Tabasi, [Ahmad] Jannati, [Ali Akbar] Nategh-Nouri, and [Ghorbanali] Dori [Najafabadi] were my guests. They discussed the presidential candidacy. In the event of Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami not running, they insisted that I accept the candidacy, which I did not agree to. The names of Messrs. Nategh-Nouri, [Hassan] Rouhani, [Ali Akbar] Velayati, and [Ali] Larijani were also mentioned. They are worried that the candidacy of Messrs. Mohsen Rezaei, [Ali] Fallahian, and Ahmad Tavakoli may divide the votes of the [right-wing] faction.

Fati came and consulted about the photos for the book "Karnama" and the memoirs of 1361 [after the crisis]. In the evening, Mr. [Sadr al-Din] Shariati, a supervisor from the Guardian Council, came. He reported on the trial of Mr. [Mustafa] Tajzadeh, [the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior and head of the election headquarters], and criticized the report by the General Inspection Organization [regarding the events in Khorramabad]. He reported on the trip to the holy shrines and spoke about the poverty of the people in Iraq and the oppression in that country. Mr. Mohsen Rezaei, [the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council], came; he is considering running in the [presidential] election.

In the evening, I went to visit Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad-Reza] Isfahani, the brother-in-law of Mahmoud, at Mehr Hospital. He has been in a coma for two weeks, and today his kidneys have also failed. Efat returned from her trip to Rafsanjan and spoke about the large attendance of people at the mourning ceremonies in [the village of] Aliabad [Sadat].