Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 20, 2003

At home, I was studying. I reviewed part of Faezeh's thesis for her master's degree; it is good. I also read part of the book on the history of Najaf and the role of the Najaf clergy in the Constitutional Revolution, the Turkish Revolution, and the Arab struggles.

Today, many Friday prayer leaders have made sharp attacks against the protests that have led to unrest, calling on the judiciary to take firm action, and some of them have labeled the disruptors as "mohareb" (those waging war against God), including Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi in Tehran and Ayatollah Yousef Tabatabai in Isfahan. Foreign and counter-revolutionary media are dissatisfied with the subsiding of the unrest and express concern over the possible fate of the hundreds who have been arrested, but they do not support them. Some counter-revolutionary radio and television stations have blamed the media that seduced the people.

In Iraq, attacks against Americans are increasing daily, and today four operations were reported in Fallujah, Baghdad, and Ramadi, resulting in eight deaths and a number of injuries; though the Americans themselves usually underreport casualties.

Paul Bremer, the U.S. appointee, has admitted that he has been unsuccessful in forming a government and managing Iraq, and while acknowledging the difficulties in Iraq, he gave a sharp response to U.S. media expressing concern over the unsuccessful casualties in Iraq, saying that the level of insecurity in Iraq is no greater than the level of insecurity in Washington itself, which has 220 deaths per month. However, the mayor of Washington responded that Washington's deaths are due to ordinary incidents, not enemy attacks on military forces.

In Afghanistan, seven rockets were fired at a U.S. military center today. Global media speak of the U.S. failure against Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting and of France's gift to Iran by arresting the MKO members in Paris, most of whom have been released. Although another group has been arrested for street protests, and two MKO leaders who had been arrested in Syria have been handed over to Iran by the Syrian government.

A ship carrying 250 African migrants to Italy sank off the Italian coast; about 50 of these shipwrecked people were rescued, and the rest perished.