Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 4, 1990

I reached my office at eight in the morning. It was reported in the news that Iraq has announced that it will start withdrawing from Kuwait from tomorrow. provided that the new government is established and the Sabah family does not return; Almost impossible to suspend.

Mr. [Masoud Roghani] Zanjani, [Head of the Program and Budget Organization] and [Serajuddin] Kazrouni, [Minister of Housing and Urban Development] came. They disagree on the responsibility of preparing the territorial community plan; Legally, it was given to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, but since the time of the previous regime, it has been practically in the hands of the program organization; I said that it should be left as it is and the issue should be raised in the Economic Council. I told the Minister of Housing and Urban Development to come up with a plan like building mass houses in Tehran and big cities in order to supply small and cheap housing and break housing prices.

Mr. [Khalil] Turgut Özal, the president of Türkiye, called and asked for an opinion about the aggression of Iraq and Kuwait. He expressed dissatisfaction with Iraq's announcement last night and said that he is in contact with [King] Fahd [King of Saudi Arabia], [George] Bush [President of the United States] and [Hafiz] Assad [President of Syria]. It was proposed to come to Iran for consultation or to send someone.

Mr. [Akbar] Turkan, [Defense Minister] came. They talked about the manufacture and purchase of weapons and expressed the readiness of Italy and East Germany for cooperation and stated the needs. Mr. [Feridon] Mahdinejad [= Verdinejad] and Moslehi came and talked about helping to release the hostages. I said it would be better to help the Irish hostage [Brian Keenan] be released. It is reported in the news that 17 Hizbollah people arrested in Kuwait have been released.

Dr. Habibi, [first vice president] came to the country for current affairs. In the evening Mr. [Gholamreza] Aghazadeh, [Oil Minister] came. There was a discussion about the policy of maintaining high oil prices and preventing others from supplying too much under the pretext of cutting off Kuwait's oil.

The Supreme National Security Council had a meeting. We discussed the issues of Kuwait and Iraq and the answer to Saddam's proposal. It was decided to say that Algeria can come to Iran under the condition of announcing the acceptance of the 1975 agreement. I worked in my office until half past nine and came home.