Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 20, 1990

I reached my office at half past seven in the morning. At half past eight, engineer [Mir Hossein] Mousavi [President's political advisor] came. He gave comments about the issues of Azerbaijan and the possible negotiations of the resolution in Moscow. He believes that there should not be a dry spell and that the Soviet mediation should be used to solve the problem and we should not discourage the Azerbaijanis from our support.

Mr. Zanganeh [Minister of Energy] came. He said about the issue of determining the duties of the ministries of jihad, agriculture and energy. He is against transferring water to another place. Dr. Habibi came for current affairs and budget issues and the high demands of the devices.

In the reports, there is a continuation of the conflict in Soviet Azerbaijan and the claim of independence of Nakhchivan and excessive influx of people of Soviet Azerbaijan to Iran. We went to the Ministry of Interior to participate in the meeting of governors. They made demands. I also gave explanations about the five-year plan and executive policies. Lunch and prayer and then I returned to my office.

In the evening, the Supreme National Security Council had a meeting. The issues of Azerbaijan were discussed and it was decided that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would make a statement expressing regret for the oppression of the people. After the meeting, Ahmad Agha complained about the lack of leadership to the 3rd line forces. I stayed in my office at night and did the work until eleven o'clock at night. I was tired and had a fever.