Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – February 22, 1998

After the morning prayer, I watched the Tehran and foreign news and the Saudi news. Most of the Saudi media news is about our trip and programs. The news centers' sensitivity is directed at the Iraq crisis. Unfortunately, two Iranian engineers have again been assassinated in Pakistan.

The head of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce came. He gave explanations about the Saudi private sector, which is very large, and invited [us] to participate in their banquet and to encourage the merchants to cooperate between the two countries. Mr. Ali Shams Ardakani, for this purpose, from the Iran Chamber of Commerce, is accompanying the delegation.

We had breakfast together with the family members. We went to the National Guard Center—Al-Haras al-Watani. Mr. Tuwaijiri, the deputy commander of the Guard, gave explanations. They established this organization from the beginning of their state's founding to preserve their revolution; similar to the IRGC and Basij in Iran. Its members are mostly formed of loyal individuals. Its command is with the Crown Prince Prince Abdullah, and the command of its armed and military section is with his son, Mut'ab bin Abdullah. The responsibility for the tribal and civilian section is with Mr. Tuwaijiri, who is among the Prince's top advisors and among the effective supporters of Iran-Saudi friendship.

He spoke about the history of its establishment and added that the armed section is about 50 thousand and more than this is the unarmed section that, similar to the work of the Construction Jihad, strives to advance the situation of the tribes and villages. He praised the efforts of Mr. Nouri, our ambassador, and spoke about the underperformance of our previous ambassadors, which caused embarrassment to Mr. Dr. Hadi, [the former Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia], who was in the session, and the audience laughed!

We went to the amphitheater. Prince Mut'ab gave a welcome speech and said that the Prince has ordered that any information I want be given, and he expressed readiness to answer any question. By showing a film of the Guard's various works, they explained it. Their heavy weapons are tanks, personnel carriers, and artillery, and like the Shah's time in Iran, they have made the role of the Saudi family very prominent. They had stationed several tanks at the entrance of the headquarters. He said these tanks were taken as spoils from the Iraqis in the Persian Gulf War with Iraq.

Then we went to the site of Prince Abdullah's library, which is vast and equipped and modern with 500 thousand volumes of books and with separate sections for ladies and gentlemen. We visited the library of manuscripts and the special section for horse riding—Ferdowsiyeh. They gifted a series of their publications.

We went to the site of the Guard University. They have taken over and equipped a vast area in the northeast of Riyadh; similar to the work of the IRGC and the army in Iran in taking land. In the office, we heard Mr. Mut'ab's explanations; he is also the university president and himself holds the rank of major general. He said he obtained this rank through effort and not by order and connections, and said they have 600 students and the course is three years. After graduating, they start their work with the rank of lieutenant, and they had 400 organizational houses.

Right there in the mosque, we prayed the noon and afternoon prayers led by me. Then in the square, a short display was given by a group of students; a program of coordination training and playing with their rifles. We visited the various sections of the college and they gave explanations in the amphitheater.

Then we went to the Guard Hospital, which has 500 beds on one floor. It is vast, with a design from the country of Denmark. The doctors and the hospital president gave briefing explanations. We visited the pediatrics, kidney and dialysis, and liver transplant sections. They take pride in having the power of kidney and liver transplantation, but they have a problem finding these organs. They obtain them from accident and brain-death cases. Most of the staff are foreign.

For lunch, we went to the Guard Club. Then I rested a little in the dormitory there. From there, to see the agro-industry complex, we moved toward the city of Al-Kharj, 80 kilometers from Riyadh; on the way is the modern and long Mecca-Dammam highway. This highway is 1400 kilometers long. The Al-Kharj region has been a production and agricultural region since before Islam and the food consumption of Mecca was mainly supplied from here, and for this reason it was called Kharj. The city's population is 50 thousand; many of them are among the wealthy of Riyadh who have land and gardens and houses there.

In the agro-industry office, the director of the institute gave explanations. It is from the properties of the family of Prince Mohammed, Faisal's grandson, who was also present. Nine thousand hectares of land and about 100 water wells and a large cattle farm with 25 thousand head of cattle, 12 thousand of which are dairy, and a pasteurization factory producing various products; the important point is that six of its wells draw water from a depth of 1,800 meters, where the water temperature is 65 degrees, and the rest of the wells are more than 200 meters.

We visited the cattle farms and the farm and the factory and one of the 1,800-meter water wells by bus. They said it is the largest unit of its kind in the world and they have received international standards. I had not thought at all that in dry and hot Saudi Arabia there would be such a large agricultural-livestock and industrial unit.

I had developed diarrhea. During the time I was in the region, I went to the restroom three times. I got an anti-diarrhea pill from Dr. Milani and it did not happen again. We prayed the evening and night prayers there and returned to Riyadh. On the way there and back, Dr. Nafiseh, who is the minister accompanying me, gave good information about their country and asked me to explain the Expediency Discernment Council, which is unknown to the world and interesting to the world's statesmen and especially Muslims as a solution for administering Islamic countries based on Islam and meeting the needs of the time.

We came to the residence. Mr. Zangeneh and Mr. Hossein Kazempour Ardebili came. They gave a report on the negotiation with the Saudi Oil Minister and brought the draft of the joint statement that they have prepared to support the oil price; they do not consider it sufficient. Apparently the Saudis want to punish countries like Venezuela that do not observe the quota, and it is unlikely that they would be willing to voluntarily reduce their own quota.

Mr. Hossein Kamali, the Minister of Labor, came. He said he needs more of my help so that they can send labor to Saudi Arabia. Mr. Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, [the head of the] Hajj [and Pilgrimage Organization], came and asked me to emphasize raising the quota of Iranian pilgrims. We were dinner guests at Mr. Tuwaijiri's house. Important figures were there. He has a vast and luxurious house in the city's commercial district. They had been extravagant with abundant and various foods. On one side of me sat the Speaker of the Parliament and we had a lot of talk. Some of the princes requested permission for hunting trips to Iran.

In the reports it came that Kofi Annan in Baghdad has reached an agreement with Saddam Hussein, [the President of Iraq], and Saddam has submitted to America's demands; as was expected.