Memories of Akbar Hashemi - February 20, 2002 - Continuing Ali Larijani's Periodic Reports to Hashemi, This Time His Analyses of Reformist Actions and Ali Afshari's Confessions

Participation in the Martyrs of the Clergy of the 10th Brigade of Imam Hussein Ceremony and Hashemi's Account of the Late Mohammad Reza Aghasi

Meeting with Shoja Abrahimi and Proposals for Purchasing Property for the Expediency Council's Pilgrimage Center

Continuation of the Interview with Matin Magazine

Continuing Ali Larijani's Periodic Reports to Hashemi, This Time His Analyses of Reformist Actions and Ali Afshari's Confessions

Full Text of the Daily Journal:

I participated in the ceremony honoring the martyrs of the clergy and cultural figures of the 10th Brigade of Imam Hussein in Tehran. General Nasih and Mr. Arabpour, the brigade's cleric, provided reports. The brigade has lost a total of 4,100 martyrs, of which 320 are clerics and cultural figures; 80 are cultural figures, and the rest are clerics. A person named [Mohammad Reza] Aghasi, who had a disheveled appearance and a bohemian demeanor, recited a long poem.

I spoke about the virtues of the martyrs and sacrifice. The event was held at the Hoor Barracks, previously known as Baghshah, in the hall near the same dormitory where I spent two months of my military service [in 1963].

Mr. Shoja Abrahimi, [a poet from Khorasan], came to follow up on our previous agreement regarding composing poetry about the Sacred Defense and also raised the issue of his difficulties in paying the installments of his home loan. He proposed that we purchase his facilities for the Expediency Council's Pilgrimage Center.

In the evening, I gave an interview to Matin Magazine about the developments after the revolution, addressing many of the doubts that have recently been raised about the revolution's performance, including its cultural, economic, foreign, and political policies; this was the second part of the interview.

Today, the media pressure from IRIB against Germany continued, and Mr. [Mahdi] Karrubi, [the Speaker of Parliament], criticized this approach in Parliament. Mr. [Ali] Larijani, [the head of IRIB], came and mentioned that the radical faction of the Second Khordad Front has decided to react strongly against the actions of the judiciary and has begun with harsh statements from the Office for the Consolidation of Unity, expressing concerns about the confessions of Ali Afshari, [the political secretary of the Office for the Consolidation of Unity].

The Syrian government has reconsidered the freedoms it granted after the election of Bashar al-Assad, [the President of Syria], and as a first step, has limited dialogue forums and imposed difficult conditions on them. The rapid growth of these forums and the discussion of significant political issues, along with criticism of the thirty-year presidency of Hafez al-Assad, has alarmed government officials; it was suspected from the beginning that they would be intolerant. The Arabs have requested the U.S. to pressure Israel to pay its debts to the Palestinian Authority for the taxes it collected on behalf of the Palestinian government. It has been stated that otherwise, the Palestinian Authority may fall.