Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - March 3, 2003

Members of the Assembly of Experts meet with Ayatollah Khamenei and following the Supreme Leader's non-participation in the city and village council elections, he complains about the supervisory board of the council elections in the sixth parliament to confirm the qualifications

Mohammad Javad Zarif's consultative meeting and Mahmoud Vaezi's proposal to participate in relevant regional seminars

Meeting of Habibollah Neutral, Reza Ardakanian, Abbas Shafiei and Hossein Mahmoudzadeh

Gholamreza Aghazadeh's visit and the report of Mohamed ElBaradei's visit to the Natanz facility

A one-on-one meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei and the Supreme Leader's complaints about Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's remarks, and dissatisfaction with Mohammad Reza Aref's meeting with Seyyed Jalaluddin Taheri and consultation on the possibility of a conflict with the United States

Full text of the diary:

Ayatollah Meshkini suggested that due to the needs of the time and the revolution, the secondary Islamic rulings should be given more attention, and Mr. [Ebrahim] Amini [the second vice chairman and head of the secretariat of the Assembly of Experts] reported on the meeting. They spoke to the Supreme Leader, praised the elections of the [city and village] councils, and criticized the violation of the Supervisory Board [of the Sixth Majlis] in examining the qualifications of the candidates, and said that it should be pursued.

In the evening, Dr. [Mohammad Javad] Zarif, Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, came and said that on the sidelines of the Geneva Conference, which is usually held on Afghan issues, experts were supposed to hold talks with the United States on the issues of Iraq, but Lakhdar Brahimi, [the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan], deliberately delays the meeting so that there will be no negotiations. He suggested that he could do it in other places. He wanted Mr. [Mahmoud] Vaezi, [Deputy of Foreign Policy Research at the Expediency Council's Center for Strategic Research] to participate in important seminars related to regional issues, because the Westerners count on the people attributed to me.

[Mr. Habibollah Neutral], the Minister of Energy, came with [Mr. Reza Ardakanian, Mr. Abbas Shafi'i, and Mr. Hossein Mahmoudzadeh], the deputies of water, electricity, and municipal sewage. Regarding the credits that the parliament has seen for water, electricity, and sewage from foreign sources and which have been objected to by the Guardian Council, they asked the assembly to approve them as they have done in the past year, and said that if they are removed, many projects will be stopped.

Mr. [Gholamreza] Aghazadeh, [head of the Atomic Energy Organization], came and gave a report on how [Mohammad] ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited the Natanz nuclear facility and his statements in Iran and abroad, and complained about the government for not paying attention to these important issues. They discussed the danger of a challenge with the United States and its solution.

At night, I was the guest of the Supreme Leader. They were dissatisfied with [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami's remarks about the elections and also criticized the meeting of Dr. [Mohammad-Reza] Aref, the [First Vice President] during a visit to Isfahan, with Mr. [Seyyed Jalaluddin] Taheri Esfahani, [the former Friday Imam of Isfahan], and said that they had also objected to Mr. Khatami. They have ordered that the violators be dealt with.

The possible danger of conflict with the United States over nuclear issues was discussed, it is a strong possibility, and it was decided to hold a special meeting to discuss the remedy.

They are satisfied with the result of the elections [of the Islamic city and village councils]. About 20 million people have participated, 50 percent, but in Tehran it is about 13 percent, and in some big cities, the participation is weak, which has led to the severe defeat of the 2nd Khordad people, the national-religious movement, and the freedom movement. In the newspapers, the debate over the outcome of the elections is widespread, and the right-wing newspapers write harsh articles in response to Mr. Khatami's remarks and criticize the interpretation of the alarm for the regime.

The U.S. is in trouble with the Turkish parliament's opposition to the U.S. use of Turkish soil to invade Iraq, saying it will delay the time of the invasion. In northern Iraq, 500,000 people have demonstrated against Turkey's military intervention in Iraq.

In Kandahar, Afghanistan, there have been numerous explosions and attacks on US military bases, and in Kabul there have been widespread demonstrations against the police. An explosion at the Philippine International Airport killed 16 people and injured many more. [Jacques Chirac], the French president, has gone to Algeria after 41 years; after the Algerian revolution, they have had cold relations.