Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 13, 2003

Mr. Javed Hasan, the Pakistani ambassador, came to say goodbye. I criticized the massacre of Shiites in Pakistan and the worsening drug situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and requested that Iran and Pakistan cooperate on the issue of Afghanistan and the region. He also accepted that America, after occupying Afghanistan, has not paid attention to the issue of drug control.

Mr. Hormoz Palizban, the son of General Azizollah Palizban, chief of the Second Bureau of the Imperial Army, came. He said that ten years ago, when I asked Iranians living abroad to return to Iran, he came to Iran with his family and now teaches at a university, and his foreign wife also has a language class. He brought his father's letter requesting the restitution of his confiscated property and asked for help in obtaining land for agriculture and housing.

Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's permanent representative to the UN, came. He said that the Americans are now seeking negotiations, but they are not negotiating about Iraq; it seems they prefer to deal with the Iraqis themselves. He suggested that I take the lead in resolving internal disputes to eliminate the ground for the Americans' proposed referendum.

In the evening, members of the Research Center for Laws and Regulations of Iran came. They are a private group of legal experts who want to receive orders from government agencies for revising and drafting advanced laws. Mr. Masoud Shahcheraghi, Mr. Hossein Sharifi, and others spoke; I gave them some points. We had been thinking about revising the laws since the first parliament; we have not reached any conclusion yet. They think the private sector can do a better job.

In Iraq, the first meeting of the Interim Governing Council was held for five hours. After the meeting, they explained their program and demanded more powers. Currently, Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, has veto power over their decisions, and they are worried that they cannot meet the people's expectations, which they likely cannot.

Today, 16 parties and groups in Iraq have opposed this program, and the remnants of the Ba'ath Party will certainly intensify their actions against the Americans and sabotage. It is certain that Arab countries are also not happy that Shiites have a majority and an upper hand in the decision-making body. Today, clashes against the Americans were more numerous and intense.

In Afghanistan, the American center at Bagram base was attacked with rockets. In the U.S., the Democrats have intensified pressure on Bush, saying that Bush's deception in convincing public opinion for war is a great scandal, and CIA Director George Tenet's acceptance of responsibility is not enough; Bush himself is responsible. The Australian government has apologized to its people for participating in the Iraq war, but the British government has defended it.

It was announced that Ms. Zahra Kazemi, a photo-journalist for a Canadian newspaper with dual Iranian and Canadian citizenship, has died in Evin Prison due to a head injury; she was arrested two weeks ago. They say she suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital. Her son and some media say she was injured due to beatings. Canada has requested her body. Mr. Khatami, expressing regret, has assigned four ministers—Messrs. Ahmad Masjed-Jamei, Ali Younesi, Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, and Esmail Shoushtari, the ministers of Culture, Intelligence, Interior, and Justice—to investigate.

Messrs. Mohammad Naeimipour and Saeed Razavi-Faqih, two managers of the Yas-e-No newspaper, and several members of the Office for Strengthening Unity have been arrested. The newsletter of Amirkabir University wrote a very harsh article against Mr. Khatami, holding him responsible for these arrests, beginning with the phrase "Mr. President, don't you feel ashamed?" The Ham-bastegi newspaper was also shut down today due to the unclear identity of its managing director. A few days ago, the economic newspaper Asia was also shut down for printing a photo of Maryam Rajavi, the head of the MKO, and its editor-in-chief, Iraj Jamshidi, has been arrested.

With the opponents' failure to take effective action on July 9, their morale has been broken, and security and judicial forces have increased pressure on them, gradually prosecuting those they have identified.