Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – January 31, 1984

Before the order, I spoke in a public meeting about the Fajr decade and Imam's arrival in Iran from Paris. The election bill was on the agenda. We had a problem regarding the approval of an article in the conditions of the [election] executive board - which was approved with a proposal - that the [internal parliament] regulations were not observed.

I had several meetings in my office at noon. Mr. Ahmed Tawakli, the former minister of work, came and supported his faction's position; He criticized the position of extremists. He complained about the removal of his like-minded people from the Ministry of Labor and Commerce and Radio and Television. Mr. Abdulhamid Farmad, Mahmoodzadeh, Akhbari and Farzin - Muslim students before the revolution in England - came and said some things about the students there; It was not important or new. Messrs. [Asadullah] Bayat and Dari [Najafabadi], [Hasan] Rouhani and [Rasoul] Mutjab did not come and they were looking for a solution to reform the house of Ayatollah Montazeri. This is one of our important issues. Some of the officials are dissatisfied with the administration of his house and they consider line three to be valid. Ayatollah Montazeri himself is dissatisfied with the efforts and inspections that are being conducted in this regard. They consider the IRGC and the Islamic Republic Party and right-wing elements to be the culprits. However, the problem should be solved gently and delicately. Both parties bring complaints to me in this regard.

[Mr. Hossein Montazeri] Friday imam came to Bandar Deir [Bushehr] and brought some money and gold donated by the people of this city for the front. I talked to Mr. Ahmad on the phone. He said, Imam has rejected Mr. Mahdavi Kony and the letter of Qom teachers who wanted to be allowed to interfere in the countrywide elections, and they have not accepted the request of Qom teachers to meet. They said that it has snowed here and the weather is very cold. It is known that the imam has decided to limit one party that has the upper hand in the elections so that the other party can become active with hope. The left wing and the third line see it as strengthening democracy, and the opposite wing considers it as weakening democracy and limiting freedoms. But everyone submits to the Imam's will.

In the evening, Red Crescent officials came. They wanted to appease the International Red Cross to have more presence in Iran. I said that we agree to the extent of reciprocity in Baghdad and observing neutrality. It was decided to pay more attention to the missing and the families of the captives. Mr. Maqsoodi, the person in charge of Friday prayers and a member of the Hajj Council, came. He complained about the performance of Mr. Mousavi Khoiniha [representative of the Imam and supervisor of Iranian pilgrims] and [Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami] the Minister of [Islamic] Guidance in matters of Hajj; He claimed monopolization and rejection of non-aligned forces. He consulted to resign; I disagreed.

[Mr. Esmet Birysed] the [new] ambassador of Türkiye came. He claimed to be trying to develop relationships. He wanted our cooperation in the matter of the Kurds. They are worried about the separatism of Kurds and Armenians and fear that they will become a foothold for interference. Turks need us economically and politically. I also emphasized that I do not agree with the separatism of the Kurds and exposed Saddam's ransom to the Kurds to the Turks, who cooperated with him in suppressing the Kurds in the past. I worked in my office until eight o'clock.