Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – December 31, 1997

[Today is the first of Ramadan.] We woke up at 4:30 in the morning to eat suhoor when the phone rang. Our alarm clock is faulty. After the devotional programs, we had breakfast with Eft and Kazem [Marashi, my brother-in-law]. I reached my office at half past nine. Mr. Sadegh Kharazi, the person in charge of [meetings of heads of the organization] of the Islamic Conference, who was appointed by my decree, came. He gave a full report of the work and its strengths and weaknesses and thanked me for my trust. He explained about the damage of the speaker during the opening ceremony, power cut and water dripping from the ceiling and consulted for his future work. He wanted me to visit the Institute of Contemporary History, which is affiliated with the Mustafafan and Veterans Foundation; I accepted

[Mr. Mohammad Taqi Amanpour], deputy director of research [Ministry] of Jihad [Construction] came. He gave a report on the work and expressed concern about Mr. [Mohammed] Saeedi Kia, [Minister of Jihad Construction]'s lack of attention to Jihad research and his lack of mastery over Jihad affairs, and appealed to strengthen the huge aquifer project, which was activated with my unhesitating support.

Mr. [Ali Mohammad] Nouryan, head of meteorological organization and deputy minister of road and transportation, came. He said that they are ready to broadcast similar advanced images of the world to explain the weather, but Sedavasima is not yet ready to receive the images. He presented a plan for the training and scientific strengthening of managers who are usually new in each course and asked me to help implement it. They agreed to cooperate with the Strategic Research Center.

I came home after breaking the fast. A group of relatives and children were gathered. After the revolution, I hope to be able to break the fast at home this year. In today's reports, the statement of [Mr. Kamal Kharazi], the Minister of Foreign Affairs, regarding the practicality of improving relations with Egypt at the moment, as a reaction to the negative statements of [Mr. Hosni Mubarak], the President of Egypt, is important in this regard. After that, the friendly and hopeful statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the past few days and facing the criticism of some newspapers and the lack of welcoming the Egyptians and making relations conditional on their part, brought a bad situation.

I read some of the book on the history of the atomic bomb. The history of the first test explosion of a plutonium bomb in America is exciting.