Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Memoirs - December 25, 1999 The prelude to the conflicts between the Guardian Council and the Ministry of Interior, which later caused numerous legal and political issues.

The Assembly of the Expediency Discernment Council held a session until noon, where three articles of the general policies related to ethnicities and religions were approved.

In the afternoon, we went to the Supreme Leader’s office, where many officials were present. Before the session, there was a meeting in the Leader’s office with Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami, [President], and Mr. [Seyyed Mahmoud] Hashemi Shahroudi, [Head of the Judiciary], where we discussed the ongoing issues surrounding the verification of Ramadan and the disagreements that lead to confusion over the Nights of Qadr and Eid al-Fitr. It was decided that Ayatollah Khamenei would find a solution to this chronic issue. During the ceremony, both Mr. Khatami and the Leader gave speeches. After Iftar, I returned to my office and worked until 8 PM.

On my way home, I visited Ayatollah [Mohammad] Emami Kashani, [Temporary Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran], at the Heart Hospital. He is recovering well after heart surgery and is satisfied with his condition. He praised my recent detailed election interview, saying that the people had not heard such clarifications in a long time. Mr. [Ahmad] Jannati, [Secretary of the Guardian Council], also requested during the Iftar ceremony that I conduct more interviews like that, saying it was necessary to alleviate the public’s concerns.

Mr. Jannati complained about the Ministry of Interior, saying that it intends not to disqualify many candidates whose lack of qualifications is clear according to the law, thus increasing the burden on the Guardian Council. He mentioned that he had raised this issue with the Supreme Leader and the President but had not yet received a response.

Mr. [Ghorbanali] Dori [Najafabadi] also discussed the same issue today at noon, asking for assistance. Mr. Jannati requested that Mr. Hashemi Shahroudi establish the courts mandated by law to deal with election-related offenses, but Mr. Hashemi Shahroudi did not show serious interest in the matter.

I returned home, where several relatives had come to visit Fatemeh.