Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - May 12, 2001 - Consultative Electoral Meeting with Seyyed Mansour Razavi and Announcement of His Candidacy for the Presidential Election

Report by Seyyed Reza Sajadi and Homayoun Madad Regarding New Fuel Cell Technology

Meeting with Ali Asghar Morvarid and Invitation to Hashemi for the Unveiling of New Jurisprudential Books

Meeting with Alireza Pirouzmand and Report on Cultural and Research Projects

Consultative Electoral Meeting with Seyyed Mansour Razavi and Announcement of His Candidacy for the Presidential Election

Participation in Mourning Ceremonies at the University of Tehran

Complete Daily Record:

Mr. Seyyed Reza Sajadi, head of the Technology Cooperation Office of the Presidency, and Dr. Homayoun Madad, CEO of the Hydrogen Technology Company and faculty member at Tarbiat Modares University, came to discuss fuel cell technology via video presentation. Dr. Madad brought this technology from the United States, intending to utilize electricity generated from fuel cells instead of gasoline or gas in vehicles, using hydrogen, gas, or methanol as the primary material. He claims it is cheaper than gasoline and does not cause air pollution. He mentioned that Germany and several other countries are on the brink of mass production of such vehicles and sought financial and political support to implement this technology. It turned out they had also negotiated with Mahdi to use this fuel cell technology alongside the plan to convert vehicles to gas.

Mr. Ali Asghar Morvarid, head of the Islamic Culture Institute, came to invite Hashemi for a visit to the "Revolution Center" or to his home, as well as to request the purchase of a number of “Jurisprudence Collections,” recently published in 110 volumes combining Shia and Sunni jurisprudence in Lebanon, priced at $800 per set.

Mr. Alireza Pirouzmand, from the Research Department of the Seminary in Qom, presented ideas regarding the Islamic system based on the principles of Islam, without blending it with data from Western culture and civilization. He is part of the group associated with the late Mohammad Reza Hosseini Shirazi.

In the afternoon, Mr. Mansour Razavi, former head of the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization, visited. He announced his candidacy for the presidential election and discussed his strengths. He mentioned that his main challenge in securing votes is a lack of funding for his campaign and sought assistance or a loan for this purpose.

Before Maghrib, we went to the University of Tehran and participated in the mourning ceremonies organized for the Friday prayer. The Maghrib and Isha prayers were led by me. We returned home, and they sent dinner from their customary offerings. The issue of the Berber demonstrations in Algeria has become problematic; it seems half of the population is of Berber descent, and recently there have been clashes with the police in northeastern Algeria, their primary region, resulting in approximately eighty fatalities.