Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - April 9, 2002

 Mr. Tehrani and Mr. Moin came from the Ministry of Intelligence. They are concerned about the ministry's inaction and asked me to help bring the case of the serial murders to a proper conclusion.

Regarding the plan for the return of Palestinian refugees and participation in the referendum for the future of Palestine, I told the Supreme Leader that if they accept that all the displaced Palestinians in Palestine vote, the result will be in favor of the Palestinians and to the detriment of Israel, and they will not vote for the two countries.

Full text of the diary:

[Members of the Policy Council] came to the headquarters of the second Holy Defense Exhibition, and thanked me for my effective participation in the first exhibition, and asked for more help for the second exhibition.

Mr. [Amir] Tehrani and Mr. Moin came from the Ministry of Intelligence. They are concerned about the ministry's inaction and asked me to help bring the case of the serial murders to a proper conclusion. The Haqshenas brothers came [from the Cultural and Artistic Assembly of the Holy Qur'an] and sought help for an institute they have for the teaching of the Qur'an.  

The era of Dr. [Hassan] Habibi, [the head of the Iranology Foundation] came. They discussed the work of the Expediency Council and the supervision of the implementation of general policies. He expressed regret over the removal of Mr. [Mohsen] Nourbakhsh from the Assembly.  

At night, I was the guest of the Supreme Leader. The problem of their back and leg pain has not yet been completely resolved. The situation in Palestine was discussed. They are of the opinion that we should try to get Israel to withdraw from the territories it has occupied as soon as possible, and they are not ready to cut off oil [exports] as Iraq has done. Regarding the plan for the return of Palestinian refugees and participation in the referendum for the future of Palestine, they said, "We should not say anything that we agree to give a part of the Palestinian lands to the Zionists, and we should not give rights to the Jews who went to Palestine after 1947." The two countries do not vote.There was a discussion about the University of Fatemieh in Qom and the Fatemieh University of Qom, which is in trouble.

Today, the Israeli army withdrew from the two cities of Tulkarm and Qalqilya, and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed. Europe has announced that it will not sell arms to Israel unless it withdraws.

In Afghanistan, there have been bloody clashes between government officials and farmers who have grown opium, and some people have been killed, and between groups and rulers in the provinces, there have been armed confrontations with casualties and the United States has been criticized for its lack of attention. [U.S. Secretary of State Colin] Powell, who has been in the region for two days, reiterates the need for the Israeli army to withdraw. Clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in the Shebaa area are intensifying. The Lebanese government, which had detained several Palestinians from southern Lebanon for attacking Israel, released it at the request of Bashar al-Assad.

Demonstrations are held daily throughout the Muslim world against Israel and the United States. In Iran, yesterday there were demonstrations in the seminaries and today the representatives and preachers of the imams of the congregations in Tehran and the students were demonstrating, and the Palestinian ambassador gave a speech in the parliament.  

In the United States, 126 intellectuals in a letter addressed to European intellectuals opposed Bush's warmongering policy and called it stupid, as opposed to the letter of 60 people who had previously endorsed Bush's war policy.  

In Kabul, the families of the victims of the US bombings demonstrated in front of the US embassy, demanding compensation. Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit modified his harsh speech against Israel, saying that Israel was committing genocide, and a lot of pressure was put on him.  

In Mazandaran and Golestan, we had several earthquakes and 35 villages were damaged.