Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - June 18, 2000 - Approval of the Urgency of the Press Law Amendment Bill Despite Ayatollah Khamenei's Verbal Message to the Sixth Parliament

 Approval of the Urgency of the Press Law Amendment Bill Despite Ayatollah Khamenei's Verbal Message to the Sixth Parliament

I went to the Manzariyeh camp for the opening of the School Builders' Charity Conference. First, we visited the exhibition. During the meeting, there was a choir performance, a report, a welcome speech by Mr. [Hossein] Mozaffar, the Minister of Education, followed by a choir from Bandar Khamir, and then my speech on the value and reward of building schools. Several short films featuring opinions from religious authorities on school construction were shown.

I arrived at my office at 11:30 a.m. and worked until 5 p.m. In the afternoon, a group of founders of the Vilayat Camp came. Most of them were injured war veterans, and they asked for assistance to improve their programs and financial support. General [Mohammad] Salimi, the new Commander of the Army, came for advice and to discuss problems regarding the budget shortfall, the poor living conditions of the personnel, and the lack of coordination with Mr. [Seyyed Hassan] Firouzabadi [Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff] and General [Mostafa] Torabi [Chief of the Joint Staff of the Army], particularly in terms of style and the use of senior army officers.

In the reports, attention was given to the approval of the urgency of the Press Law Amendment Bill in the Parliament, despite Mr. [Ali] Larijani's message that the Leader had opposed it. There was also mention of Lebanon's dispute with [Kofi Annan], the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who stated that Israel had completely withdrawn from southern Lebanon, but Hezbollah and the Lebanese government did not accept this. Russia also sided with Lebanon in the Security Council.