First of all, it was reported that last night's news of the Voice of America radio about the arrest of Najibullah in Kabul is not correct and that he and his family have taken refuge in the United Nations office and want to come to Iran. I said that if he takes refuge in the United Nations and the organization requests it, he should come with Swan, and if
First thing in the morning, news came that last night's report on Voice of America radio about Najibullah's arrest in Kabul was not correct, and that he and his family had taken refuge in the United Nations office and were requesting to come to Iran. I said that if he has taken refuge with the UN and the organization requests it, they should come with the Swiss [representatives], and if they go from Iran elsewhere, there is no objection.
Messrs. Mohammad Saeedikia, Minister of Roads and Transportation; Dr. Hassan Rouhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council; General Mansour Sattari, Commander of the Air Force; and Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, Minister of Foreign Affairs, separately informed me by telephone that an aircraft and a helicopter had come from Afghanistan to Iran and were seeking asylum. I said to accept them, treat them well, and send the request for political asylum upward for review; this policy is approved by the Supreme National Security Council.
Dr. Velayati gave a report on his trip to China and South Korea and said the Chinese had agreed to provide credit for cement factories and the Tehran metro. He asked permission to travel to Kuwait. I said to explain there the issue of Abu Musa Island, about which they had recently stirred up a commotion.
I went to the University of Tehran for Friday prayers. The sermons concerned the continuation of the discussion on social justice and an analysis of the elections and the condemnation of foreign and domestic negative propaganda.
After the prayers, we went from there to Mehrabad Airport for a trip to Hormozgan. Messrs. Gholamreza Forouzesh, Abdolhossein Vahaji, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Hossein Mahlouji, and Mohammad Saeedikia—the ministers of Construction Jihad, Commerce, Energy, Heavy Industries, Industries, Mines and Metals, and Roads and Transportation—as well as Messrs. Hamid Mirzadeh, Deputy Executive of the President; Ali Shamkhani, Commander of the Navy; and Morteza Mohammad Khan, Director General of Iranian Customs, were accompanying. Each was present for their own work.
On the way, Messrs. Abdolhossein Vahaji, Minister of Commerce, and Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian, Minister of Heavy Industries, explained about the thousand-ton cold storage and shipbuilding projects. Mr. Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Energy, informed that the contract for the construction of the Karun 4 Dam with the Japanese had been signed with cheap and long-term Japanese credit.
At Bandar Abbas Airport, there was an official reception. We went straight to inaugurate the huge twenty-thousand-ton cold storage next to Shahid Rajai Port. On the way there and back, the people warmly welcomed and expressed their feelings. Mr. Sadegh Mofatteh, Deputy Minister of Commerce, explained about the cold storage; he claims it is the largest cold storage in the Middle East and that its design and execution were done by Iranians themselves. I also gave an encouraging speech. It is effective in reducing ship demurrage and helping imports and exports.
From there we went to the site of the Al-Mahdi complex under construction. It is under construction to produce 220 thousand tons at a cost of about 1.5 billion dollars. They explained, and I also spoke. Given the presence of oil and gas materials, energy, and cheap labor, it can be a profitable export [project].
Then we went to the site of the construction of the huge pier for Mines and Metals, for the import and export of iron ore and coal. Its contractor is the Hyundai Company of South Korea. It has employed a lot of equipment. It was late, and it was not in the program, so we did not get out. They requested help for a contract with the Germans to supply the pier and conveyor equipment and meet the needs. We also passed by the large refinery under construction and received an explanation. It has a capacity of 240 thousand barrels and is for the export of petroleum products.
We returned to the governorate. On the way, Mr. Ahmad Khorram, the governor of Hormozgan, and Mr. Gholamali Naeim-Abadi, the Friday prayer leader of Bandar Abbas, who were in my car, gave a report on the province's situation, including the high cost of electricity, given the heat and the people's needs.
Shia and Sunni clerics came. Mr. Gholamali Naeim-Abadi, the Friday prayer leader, gave a welcome speech, and I spoke. I spoke about the situation of the Islamic world. I had dinner with them. Then we had a private meeting with the Friday prayer leaders of Minab, Jask, Hajiabad, Bandar Lengeh, and Bandar Abbas, and the head of the judiciary. They all asked for money for their work, and I promised assistance. I went to sleep late and tired.
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