Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 14, 1999

[Mr. KB Fernando], the new ambassador of Sri Lanka came. I asked many questions about the security and economic situation. The previous ambassador was a Muslim and the new ambassador is a Buddhist. He said that they have no problem with Sri Lankan Muslims who make up 8% of the country's population.

Mr. [Mohammad Reza] Aref, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, came. He also gave a report on the progress of the work and expressed appreciation for the good conditions that have been created during my government and complained about the lack of currency in the current year. He is also unhappy with the government taking part of his income; Still, each phone line costs about 250 dollars.

Mr. [Ahmed Sadegh] Bonab, our new ambassador in Ukraine, came. He gave a report on the state of cooperation between the two countries, which is mostly military or from the aircraft industry. He appreciated the construction period; At that time, he was the Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, and he told me about the low prosperity of today's construction industry.

Mr. [Mohammed] Falah, head of the anti-narcotics headquarters. He complained that Mr. [Syed Mohammad] Khatami, [President], opposed their future conference to have the title of fight against narcotics and dialogue between civilizations, and said that the United Nations is ready to cooperate with this title and may withdraw. He asked me to help solve the problem.

Zohar Mohsen, [CEO of Tehran Metro Company] came and we had a lot of talks about the subway and the current affairs of the country and the forum [Determining expediency of the system].

In the evening, Mr. [Ali] Aghamohammadi, [head of the Iraqi Committee] and [Mr. Abdullah Rasouli Ali], the second man of the [Jalal] Talabani faction, came from Iraqi Kurdistan. They demanded the development of border trade and cooperation in removing Saddam [Hussein, the president of Iraq]. Then I participated in the gathering of visiting Iraqi people [leaders of parties and tribes and officials of the Kurdistan region] and after listening to their report, I gave a speech about the problems of the Iraqi people and the problems that the Iraqi regime has created for the people of the region and the neighbors, and I emphasized the need for the unity of the Iraqi people.

Martyr Moftah's sons-in-law, Mr. [Mohammed] Pishgahi [Fard] and Yazidi, and his children Mr. Mahdi, Sadiq and Reza came. They appreciated the detailed interview with Sedavasima and said that they have suggested to Sema to make a program based on it and asked me to give an interview for the 20th anniversary of Martyrdom of Martyr Muftah. Sadegh, [Deputy of Domestic Trade], said about the problems of supplying basic goods in the Ministry of Commerce.

I was the guest of the leader. We talked about the Ministry of Information. They have told him that Mr. [Ali] Younisi is preferred over Mr. [Ahmed] Shafii, who is accepted by some of the ministry's personnel. From advertising blackmail and disruption of some newspapers and left-wing people. Especially Salam and... newspapers are unhappy. We talked about the new statements of Amir Abdullah, [Crown of Saudi Arabia], about the Al-Khobar explosion; They are upset, but they don't care; Contrary to my opinion, which I consider important. We also talked about the upcoming meeting of experts and the problems of Iraqis traveling from Iran and the beating of Asidhadi [Khamenei]. They said that his head hit the door and was injured. They praised my Friday sermons and I praised his message [on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution].