Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Memoirs - October 13, 1999 In continuation of the one-on-one discussions between Ayatollah Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, today's memoir records significant meetings with Mohsen Nourbakhsh, Ataollah Mohajerani, Mohammad

In continuation of the one-on-one discussions between Ayatollah Khamenei and myself, today's diary includes notable and important meetings with Mohsen Nourbakhsh, Ataollah Mohajerani, Mohammad Ali Najafi, and Eshaq Jahangiri.

[Konstantinos Stephanopoulos], the President of Greece, came for a visit. Our discussions centered around expanding cooperation, the cultural history between the two countries, the Balkan issues, the Cyprus conflict, and the strained relations between Greece and Turkey.

He, like many other guests, was impressed by the beauty of the Marble Palace. When we reached the depiction of Persepolis under the dome, I mentioned that this structure was destroyed by Alexander the Great, and Greece owes Iran a debt.

An elderly man accompanying him, who spoke Persian, remarked in Persian that before that, Xerxes, the King of Iran, had destroyed the Acropolis in Greece, and Alexander only took revenge.

They were not as familiar with the works and thoughts of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle as we are. He said, "We say life first, then philosophy," to which I responded, "Life must be based on the right philosophy." He also criticized the Turkish government heavily.

I remarked that I was surprised NATO wants to intervene everywhere but cannot resolve the problem between two of its own members, [Turkey and Greece]. He had no answer to this.

Mr. Shahsavari came by. He complained about being unemployed and informed me that he had been acquitted. He also expressed gratitude for my comments on research during a broadcast on national television. In the afternoon, I gave an interview about the goals and achievements of the Islamic Azad University. Yasser came by to report on his trip to France and showed me the promotional plan for my memoirs book, Crossing the Crisis (1981).

In the evening, Mr. [Mohsen] Nourbakhsh, Mr. [Ataollah] Mohajerani, Mr. [Mohammad Ali] Najafi, and Mr. [Eshaq] Jahangiri came to discuss the trial of Mr. Abdullah Nouri and the issues surrounding Mr. Mohajerani. I told them that the Supreme Leader is dissatisfied with both individuals and is unwilling to intervene.

Mr. Mohajerani said that he had offered his resignation to Mr. Khatami, but it was not accepted. I replied that the opposite had been told to me, with confidence that Mr. Khatami had proposed your resignation, but you had refused, stating that you would only step down if the Leader asked. Mr. Mohajerani speculated that the wrong report had been conveyed to the Leader and guessed that Mr. Khatami had said it. I responded that it’s unlikely Mr. Khatami would say anything false; perhaps others had misrepresented the situation.