Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 4, 1991

I reached my office at quarter past eight. The mass of refugees coming from Iraq to Iran has created a problem.

Mr. [Hossein] Mahluji, [Minister of Mines and Metals] came. The elections, prices, metal production, mines and Iraqi issues were discussed. Mr. [Sidhadi] Madrasi, [leader of the Iraqi Islamic Action Party] came. The issues of Iraq were discussed. He appealed and complained about the lack of attention paid to his community compared to Mr. [Syed Mohammad Baqer] Hakim's community, and asked for permission to negotiate with the United States in order to solve the Iraqi issues.

[Mr. Abdallah Nouri], the Minister of the Interior came with Timsar [Mohammed] Sohrabi, the new commander of the police force and Timsar [Reza] Saifullahi, the commander of intelligence protection of the force and [Mohammed Ali] Rahmani, the political ideological officer. They gave a report on the implementation of the law on the integration of police forces and new responsibilities; I encouraged them.

[Mr. Abdullah Nouri], the Minister of Interior and [Bijan Namdar Zanganeh], the Minister of Energy and the relevant deputies and [Mahmoud Hojjati] the Governor of Sistan and Baluchistan and the representative of Zabul came. They told about the danger of renewed flooding in Sistan and the possibility of drowning the city of Zabul and the possible ways to prevent it. I told Jihad [Construction] over the phone to send a large number of heavy vehicles to Sistan to deal with the flood.

Dr. [Mohammed Hossein] Adeli, [President of Central Bank] came. We decided on the price of Haji currency. Monetary, currency and economic issues were discussed. I told [Mr. Gholamreza Aghazadeh], Minister of Oil, to pre-sell five hundred million dollars of oil to acquire foreign exchange liquidity.

In the evening, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution had a meeting. It was decided to establish an independent telecommunication faculty by the Ministry [of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones]. Iftar was my guest.

I came home after breaking the fast. The children had gone to Mahmoud's brother's house for a party and revival ceremony. Yasser called from Medina. He expressed his satisfaction with the Umrah journey and said that he will return tomorrow.