Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - April 15, 2000 - Context of Ayatollah Khamenei's Friday Prayer Sermonه

Context of Ayatollah Khamenei's Friday Prayer Sermon

The aftermath of Ayatollah Khamenei's Friday prayer sermon yesterday.

The arrest of Dr. Ahmad Hakimipour continued discussions among the country's leaders, and Hashemi emphasized that this action could implicate reformists in the assassination (I will share a separate note regarding the details of his arrest).

I was at home, mostly working on organizing the [book on the events and memoirs of 1982 [post-crisis]. Israel has announced that it will soon agree to establish a Palestinian state on 65 percent of the occupied Palestinian territories, while negotiations with Syria have reached a deadlock.

Yesterday, the Russian parliament ratified the SALT II treaty after seven years of hesitation. According to this treaty, two-thirds of nuclear weapons in the East and West must be reduced, but there are conditions that the United States may not accept.

The reflections of the Leader's remarks about violence and reformism during Friday prayers continue in foreign media, but domestically, the leftists and liberals are trying to dilute the impact, focusing on the positive aspect of condemning illegal violence. Dr. [Habibollah] Payman, a national-religious activist and secretary-general of the Movement of Muslim Fighters, said the same in an interview with the BBC's Persian service.

Salman Rushdie, the author of *The Satanic Verses*, has been granted permission to enter India after eleven years, but a group of Muslims protested against him in Delhi. Mr. [Ahmad] Hakimipour, a member of the Tehran City Council, was arrested yesterday on charges of involvement in the assassination of Mr. Said Hajarian, which could implicate the left faction in the assassination.

In New York, there have been large protests against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are holding a joint conference, in opposition to their economic policies, resulting in over 600 arrests. Stock prices on major American exchanges have dropped dramatically. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have expelled women from government jobs. Mohsen and Mehdi visited to discuss political matters.