Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 16, 1983

After prayers, I headed towards Qom to attend the Experts Assembly meeting. I arrived at Feyziyeh School at 7:30 AM. Before the meeting, in the late Saheb-e Dar's room - the school's office - we discussed with a group of teachers. Mr. [Mohyeddin] Haeri Shirazi believed that a part of Imam's message was directed at Ayatollah Montazeri's house and said, "Let's pay attention to this reminder." Some considered it general; in any case, they agreed that for the implementation of Article 111 of the Constitution, the Experts Assembly should supervise the leader's house. With a slight delay, the Experts Assembly meeting began. Managing the assembly was difficult; it lacked regulations, and the members were great scholars and demanding. I helped Mr. Meshkini with the management. A lot of time was spent on amending the article related to the meeting location, which was finally modified - the main center in Qom and changeable, with the approval of the majority - we also formed two commissions; at noon, after prayers, we had lunch in the same Feyziyeh library; by voting, the next meeting will be in Tehran.

For rest, I went to Ayatollah Montazeri's house; all his family members have gone to Mashhad. We rested in a basement that they had recently made bomb-proof and blast-proof. For an hour, we also talked about important national issues, the war, inflation, liberation movements, differences in Esfahan, and political prisoners. They reported that his practical treatise was nearing completion; I was happy. For the preliminaries of leadership and the establishment of the title of Marja'iyat, the [publication of] the treatise is necessary.

In the afternoon, Mr. [Seyed Hassan] Taheri Khorramabadi came. He spoke about Mr. Dinparvar's concern for his son. He asked for help, and we consulted for the meeting.

I returned to Tehran; on the way, the many uncultivated lands in the south of Tehran, despite the abundant water there and the possibility of utilizing the water from Tehran's existing qanats, caught my attention. There are many such opportunities in Iran; they should gradually be utilized. I wanted to attend the meeting [to examine ways] to reform distribution [of goods]. I called and found out it was almost over; I didn't go. I worked in the parliament until nine; I visited the resting place of the Experts Assembly guests and came home late at night.