Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 5, 1995

I packed my suitcase and set off for the Khuzestan trip. Yaser also came with me. Messrs. Mohsen Rezaei, [Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC], Hamid Mirzadeh, [Deputy Executive of the President], Hadi Manafi, [Head of the Environmental Protection Organization], Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, [Minister of Industries], Gholamreza Forouzesh, [Minister of Construction Jihad], Issa Kalantari, [Minister of Agriculture], Gholamreza Aghazadeh, [Minister of Oil], and Mohammad Forouzandeh, Minister of Defense and Support, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Energy, Morteza Mohammad Khan, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Masoud Roghani Zanjani, Head of the Plan and Budget Organization, Mohsen Norbakhsh, Governor of the Central Bank, and a number of members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly were accompanying. After the reception at Ahvaz Airport and a short interview and the warm welcome of the people in the streets along the route in the city of Ahvaz—but not as warm as [the welcome of the people of] Kermanshah—we went to the city stadium.

In the stadium hall, we had a meeting with the families of the martyrs. The head of the province's Martyrs Foundation gave a report and I, to the enthusiastic welcome of those present, gave a condolence speech. Then we participated in the people's gathering in the grass field of the stadium. Here too it was not like Kermanshah, but it was good. Mr. Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, the Friday prayer leader [of Ahvaz], and Mr. Mohammad Hossein Moghimi, the governor [of Khuzestan], gave welcome speeches and I spoke in honor of the province's people and their record of jihad and so on.

We went to the telecommunications center. We participated in the ceremony for the inauguration of the operation of more than one hundred thousand telephone numbers. The managers gave reports and I gave an encouraging speech. On the way, we got out on the temporary military bridge over the Karun River. I saw the condition of the Karun; it is worth seeing. We visited the Karun waterfront development, which recovers the project's cost with the reclaimed lands; it is a good work.

Then we went to the governorate. On the way, everywhere the people have gatherings and are waiting for the passage. I spent two hours on lunch and prayer and study and rest. The atmosphere of the residence is very pleasant; with palms and citrus and beautiful flowers and pleasant weather.

In the afternoon we went to the Ahvaz rolling and pipe factory, which is under development and reconstruction. Mr. Moghimi, the governor, gave good reports and information on the way. I heard the explanation of Engineer Ali Asghar Zakeri, the factory's CEO, about the construction program under implementation, which is being built with 230 million dollars and three billion tomans, with a capacity of six hundred thousand tons of hot rolling. We visited the production line of welded pipes for gas.

We went to the industrial soot production factory [of the Iran Carbon Black Company]. Messrs. Aghazadeh, [Minister of Oil], and Rahgozar, [CEO of the Petrochemical Industries], gave reports. With 21 million dollars, they have built a factory with a capacity of thirty thousand tons. Similar to the existing factory adjacent to it, it gives an expensive product with cheap materials; thirty-five tomans, the value of each kilo of material—with all the production costs—and one hundred and forty tomans, its sale price. Some complain about environmental pollution due to the scattering of soot, but in the new unit, environmental protection regulations have been observed. We visited the major sections and by car visited the important oil pipe factory and heard explanations.

We went to the research center of the Islamic Azad University. We had a visit and explanations from Messrs. Dr. Jasbi and Jafar Hejazi, [Development Deputy of the Khuzestan Governorate]. [The Research Center of the Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz Branch, with a built area of two thousand square meters, has been constructed on a land area of five thousand square meters and has cost more than one and a half billion rials.] In Khuzestan, they have 9 university branches with 22 thousand students. I praised the measures of the Islamic Azad University and inaugurated it. The people had gathered in front of the building, and on entry and return, I went toward them and responded to their feelings.

We went to the governorate. After prayer and studying the reports and walking in the governorate garden, we participated in the meeting of the women of the social centers and the Karbala caravans; after hearing the report and the welcome of a female specialist surgeon, [= the advisor to the governor of Khuzestan on women's affairs], I spoke about the necessity of more women's participation in social affairs while observing Islamic ethics.

I participated in the Supreme Administrative Council meeting. The governor and the head of the province's representatives' assembly spoke with a report on the province's situation and progress and the presentation of needs. I gave guidance by analyzing the country's situation and the province's plans and promised help. We returned to the residence; on the way, the Director General of [Culture and] Islamic Guidance [of Khuzestan] gave a report on services. I wrote today's memoirs. I listened to the twelve o'clock news and slept.