Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - January 21, 2000 - Hashemi Criticizes Both Left and Right in Friday Sermon

Hashemi criticized both the left and right in his Friday sermon.

Gholamhossein Karbaschi eventually submitted to the existing reality and officially rewrote and submitted his pardon request.

Ali Larijani's comment regarding the lack of clarity and the omission of the word "pardon" in Karbaschi’s letter, as pointed out by then Chief of Judiciary Hashemi Shahroudi.

Regardless of Akbar Hashemi’s interpretation, it seems that those pursuing Karbaschi's pardon had forgotten that, according to the law, pardons and sentence reductions for convicts are only within the authority of the Supreme Leader after a recommendation from the Chief of Judiciary. Even if discussions involved former heads of the judiciary suggesting it, the process still required formal procedures.

Meeting with Sheikh Mohammad Reza Nouri Shahrudi, Iran's ambassador to Riyadh, and a report on bilateral cooperation.

In Turkey, a large-scale campaign against the Hezbollah Islamic group has been launched. Several members have been killed in clashes, and many have been arrested. The Turkish government claims to have discovered numerous corpses in the group's safe houses, alleging that they had kidnapped and killed these individuals.

Additionally, the visit of the Greek Foreign Minister to Turkey and the agreements between Turkey and Greece have attracted attention, marking a turning point in their historically hostile relations. It was also announced that Mrs. Ruhiyyih Rabbani, the wife of Shoghi Effendi, a former leader of the Baha'i faith, passed away at the age of 90 in Israel, and Western media are praising her.

I went to Tehran University to deliver the Friday prayer sermon. Both sermons were political, where I criticized the extremist factions on both the right and the left.

In the afternoon, Mr. Gholamhossein Karbaschi called from prison, stating that he had added the word "pardon" to his letter at the Supreme Leader's request and was now hoping for a quick resolution to his case.

In the evening, Mr. Ali Larijani, [Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)], came to visit. He brought the latest public opinion survey, which showed that I held a 52% approval rating, putting me at the top. He expressed concern over the negative propaganda from the left-wing faction and mentioned that the delay in Karbaschi’s release was due to the discontent of Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, the Chief of Judiciary, who felt excluded from the initial steps of the pardon process, leading to his reluctance. Larijani also offered suggestions on how to deal with the left-wing extremists in the media, to which I replied that the right-wing extremists are no better.

Later in the evening, Mr. Mohammad Reza Nouri Shahrudi, our ambassador to Saudi Arabia, came and reported on the progress of expanding bilateral cooperation. Today and tonight, I spent a considerable amount of time reviewing and editing Effat's memoirs and my own interviews. Fatemah and Nosrat, my sisters, visited Fati to check on her recovery.