Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 19, 1995

The Indian media has left every stone unturned to cover the trip and the reflection of Indians' interest in our trip and their inattention to the simultaneous trip of the US Treasury Secretary is remarkable. We went to the conference of the non-commitment movement for a press interview. The company of journalists was very good and the manager managed well; I answered all the questions.

We returned to the palace and said goodbye to the president and went to the airport. On the way, I had many questions from Mr. Salman Sohri, including about mango farming, who said that they have seventy hectares in their family and that farming is profitable. Mr. Rao had personally come to the airport to see him off, unlike usual. It was decided to vote for the vice president of Iran against Pakistan in the chemical disarmament organization.

We flew to Georgia. Some of them returned to Tehran. We were on the road for five hours. We mostly passed through Iran. Georgians received a warm welcome with a parade and the arrival of many officials. In Tbilisi, it was raining and the weather was cold. On the way, I asked Mr. [Edward] Shevard Nadze, [President of Georgia] many questions. He told about the many problems of his country. Most of the production is dormant due to lack of management and lack of energy, civil war and road closure due to the Chechen war. He said that about two hundred billion kilowatt hours have the potential to produce hydroelectric power, of which about ten percent is exploited.

We passed through the city. A huge river called Matkvari passes through the city. They said that it originates from Türkiye and after joining the Aras River, flows into the Caspian Sea. He said that there is about ninety cubic meters of water per second in the city. The residence is in the south of the city, in a high and clean mountainous point. Due to the lack of energy, the heaters are off and the air is cold. They heat the room with an electric heater, which is not enough. Mohsen also came from Tehran with Mr. [Mortaza] Mohammad Khan, [Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance], [Yahia] Al-Ishaq, [Minister of Commerce] and [Akbar] Turkan, [Minister of Roads and Transportation] and... Azam, [Mohsen's wife], returned to Tehran from India for the sake of the children.

The mayor of Tbilisi came. For the first round of negotiations, we went to the Prime Minister's place together. The development of multilateral cooperation and the activation of transportation using the port of Batumi and the southern train, etc., were discussed. We entrusted it to six committees.

Then we had a private negotiation [with Mr. Shevardnadze]. He said that due to Russian pressure that led to the civil war, he agreed to the establishment of Russian military bases in Georgia and surrendered, and for now relations with Russia are not bad. He said that his disagreement with Mr. Gorbachev was about the fact that Gorbachev wanted to preserve the principle of the Soviet Union and he believed that the republics should be gradually liberated, and he also understood the danger of a coup and Gorbachev was oblivious. He said that America and Russia will not face each other.

We returned to the accommodation and then went for dinner. They did not have a good dinner, although the food was varied. A loud Georgian song was sung. Chastity and Faeza... had a discussion and dinner with Nadze's family separately and they were satisfied. Mohsen and Dr. Velayati went to New York to participate in the nuclear disarmament conference. Mohsen wants to see the American presidential museums.