Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 18, 1983

I worked at home studying and writing until nine in the morning. At a quarter past nine, I arrived at the parliament. The representative, the governor, and the Friday prayer leader of Rudbar came and reported on the situation in the city. They spoke of the conspiracy of the communists there, who are numerous and connected with the forest, and the Friday prayer leader complained about the office of the Islamic Republic Party there. A group of managers of Hajj caravans came. They criticized the government takeover of Hajj affairs and believed that the scope of responsibility of the caravan managers should be expanded. I conveyed their views to Mr. [Abolfazl] Tavakkoli[Bina], the official in charge of the [Hajj] Organization. For the anniversary of the parliament, I gave an extensive television interview and spoke about the parliament's achievements and services. Mr. [Seyyed Hassan] Beheshti-Nejad, the representative from Isfahan, came and spoke about the poor state of the disputes in Isfahan and the shortcomings in the work of the parliament's representatives.

In the afternoon, we had a four-hour meeting of the presiding board. Some of the time was taken up by the problem of the new law increasing the salaries of parliament employees, and it was decided that they would pass an amendment. I stayed at the parliament at night. Late at night, Mr. [Ahmad] Jannati [a member of the Guardian Council] came and reported on the council's meeting with the Imam; their main purpose was to complain about the humiliation and weakening of the Guardian Council in the media. He had suggestions about the future of the Guardian Council and the new people who should be selected. I went to sleep late. A severe storm was raging.