Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 13, 1999

I studied at home until eleven o’clock. Effat went to Qom to attend the fortieth-day memorial ceremony for the late Mr. Kashmiri’s death. I went to the Kushk office and worked until five in the afternoon. I returned home and spoke for a while with the tiling mason who is tiling the swimming pool at the house. There are three of them. One of them said that he was an electrical engineering student at Kermanshah University and had withdrawn from this semester to work and earn enough money to cover his educational expenses. I told him that I would help him continue his studies. I gave Agha Jalal a bottle of liquid fertilizer recently produced by the Ministry of Petroleum, asking him to use it on the potted plants for testing.

The major world developments today included the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the Russian president in the Duma. The dismissal of [Yevgeny] Primakov, the prime minister, has made the situation more serious. Another important piece of news was China’s acceptance into GATT [the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]. Apparently, the process was expedited as a concession to compensate for the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. The bombing of Yugoslavia continues, and reports say that 600 combat sorties are being carried out daily. Large numbers of people in Russia have demonstrated in support of the Duma and against Yeltsin. Russia is gripped by a serious political and economic crisis.

In recent days, it was announced that an advanced type of weapon had been used in Yugoslavia, partly on an experimental basis. This weapon creates a kind of cloud at the point of detonation that disrupts the flow of electricity, rendering power distribution equipment inoperative for up to seven hours. Limited bombing of Iraq continues daily, reportedly in response to Iraqi air-defense activities. Mr. Khatami, the president, began his visit to Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar today. Yaser came and said that the book of memoirs covering the year 1360 [1981–82], Crossing the Crisis, had received an enthusiastic reception. Mrs. Fahimeh, the daughter of Imam Khomeini, came and asked me to attend the opening ceremony of the Congress on the Study of Imam Khomeini.