Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - April 13, 2002

 In the usual meeting after the meeting of the Discernment Assembly, it was said that the propaganda campaign against economic corruption has not been successful so far and has caused a decrease in people's trust in the system and officials, and if the situation continues in this way, it will get worse. Mr. Tabasi said that Nasser's case – their son – had nothing to do with economic corruption and that Mr. Hashemi Shahroudi had unnecessarily taken it into account in this procedure.

Full text of the diary:

We had the first meeting of the Expediency Council in the new period. The new individuals [including Mr. Mohammad Reza Aref, Mr. Hossein Mozaffar, Mr. Mohammad Reza Bahonar, Mr. Majid Ansari, and Mr. Mohammad Javad Iravani], elected their commissions. We condemned Israel's aggression. The members and the special commission were selected to review the cases and methods of determining the general policies and a clause of the urban planning policies was approved.  

At noon, our usual meeting was [attended by Abbas Vaez Tabasi, Ahmad Jannati, Mohammad Yazdi, Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, and Ghorbanali Dorri Najafabadi] and most of the discussion was about the issues of Palestine and the possibilities of future events. Mr. Tabasi said that the case of Nasser – their son – had nothing to do with economic corruption and that Mr. Hashemi Shahroudi, [the Head of the Judiciary], had unnecessarily taken it into account in this procedure.

In the evening, Mr. [Abolghasem] Ashuri, the former deputy mayor of Tehran, came and during the trial, Mr. [Gholamhossein] Karbaschi, [the former mayor of Tehran], went to Canada for heart treatment and stayed there for three years, and now he has returned. With the acquittal of the deputies and mayors of Tehran's regions, he is relieved.

In Palestine, the clashes continue, and [U.S. Secretary of State Colin] Powell, who was scheduled to meet with [Palestinian Authority President] Arafat today, postponed the meeting, as if waiting for Arafat's condemnation of terror, especially the recent martyrdom operations in Jerusalem. Today, Arafat also secured the opinion of the United States with a statement, but they are still studying to see if it is enough or not.

The coup plotters in Venezuela have been protested by many countries around the world, especially in Latin America, and in the first step, they dissolved the parliament, the head of the judiciary stepped down, and cut off oil exports to Cuba. It is clear that the United States is preparing a coup. Venezuelan oil is very important to the United States. Hugo Chávez has always been in conflict with the United States and has been accused of collaborating with the Colombian guerrillas. Iran's Foreign Ministry also condemned the coup.

[Cynthia McKennie], a member of the U.S. Congress, has claimed that the White House was aware of the events of 9/11 in advance and did not prevent specific exploits.  

Dr. Yadollah Sahabi, [the founder of the Iranian Freedom Movement, a member of the cabinet of the interim government of Mohandes Bazargan, and a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the first term] passed away at the age of 96. The Supreme Leader gave a different message.