Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 23, 2003

Mr. Hossein Marashi, the representative of Kerman, came. He gave a report on the recent unrest in Kerman and said that the students had not taken any drastic action, and the thugs and hooligans who had caused trouble had received a serious blow and, like elsewhere, were mostly arrested. He said that the hardline Second of Khordad representatives have reached a dead end, and a group has been formed to resolve the issue with the Guardian Council; he asked for my help. One solution is for them to give up on the bills, but in practice, the Guardian Council should not act radically.

Mr. Ali Bagheri, the parliamentary deputy of the Ministry of Intelligence, came and said that the representatives have reached a dead end and need help, and it would be good to appease them, except for those who have ill intentions. He consulted about the plan to form an assembly of elites. They have been working on it for a year but have not been able to resolve the issues; I made a suggestion. He said that about two thousand people have been arrested in the recent unrest across the country, many of whom have been released. Some have difficult cases, and some will be released on bail.

In the evening, Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Sajjadi, one of the judges of the Supreme Court from Qom, came with his son, Seyyed Ali. He recounted the story of the case of Seyyed Hashem Aghajari. He had overturned the death sentence, but he says he is under pressure from Mr. Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of the judiciary, and the group of Mr. Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi. He was among the seminarians who were in Najaf during Imam's stay there, and he has a lot of resentment toward the Najaf seminarians who are now in Iran and hold important positions. He says they used to harass Imam and his entourage. He brought the transcripts of Imam's lessons on sale (bay') for me to write something about.

In Iraq, another oil pipeline was blown up, and widespread demonstrations were held in Basra against the American presence, during which one American was killed and another wounded. An Iraqi rooster pecked out the eye of an American soldier; apparently while watching a cockfight, the soldier had made a bet and was holding the rooster for a photo, and the rooster got angry and struck him. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, has said that he is unable to take on the responsibility of security and administration of Iraq under the current circumstances, as he lacks the resources, the troops, and the authority.

A large number of MKO members in France have gone on a hunger strike to save their imprisoned comrades.
Fati and her son Ali came. They said goodbye for a pilgrimage to Umrah, but at the airport it was found that Ali's exit permit had not been issued, and they returned home upset. Their fellow travelers have gone.