Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 22, 1989

I arrived at the parliament at half past seven in the morning. Most of the news reports and telexes are related to the issue of Salman Rushdie. I stayed in the public meeting until noon. The tax bill was not finished and we had a meeting in the evening and it continued until the evening until it was finally finished. There was a risk of exaggeration in the decree; I stayed to maintain moderation and it was done.

At noon, Mr. [Hashem] Hashemzadeh Harisi, the representative of Tabriz, came. He was looking for solutions for the establishment of a strong decision-making center in the country and expressed his concern about Mr. Montazeri's position regarding the non-acceptance of executive affairs by clerics.

In the afternoon, an important and detailed message from Imam was published on the occasion of Clergy Day. They have glorified the clergy of the revolution and criticized the quiet and conservative clergy. In this message, Ayatollah Montazeri's recent content has been severely criticized without mentioning his name and they have attacked the West.

Mr. Ray Shahri [Minister of Information] came. He talked about the Imam's message and the future of the leadership by undermining Mr. Montazeri with this Imam's message and informed that some clerics have written strong protesting letters to Mr. Montazeri. He requested that a group of released prisoners come to the parliament tomorrow and demonstrate in favor of the system; I told Mr. [Hossein] Hashemian or Mr. [Mehdi] Karroubi [Deputy Speaker] to speak for them. I came home at night.