Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 29, 1999

Before noon, the Expediency Discernment Council held a meeting. The dispute between Parliament and the Guardian Council concerning banking and insurance in free trade zones was on the agenda. Parliament had authorized the establishment of foreign banks, foreign insurance companies, and privately owned banks and insurance companies, with private ownership exceeding 51 percent, in the free trade zones. However, the Guardian Council considers this contrary to the Constitution. We spent the entire session discussing the general principles of the matter, but the discussion remained unfinished.

In the afternoon, I attended the opening ceremony of a seminar on the practical and theoretical aspects of Imam Khomeini’s approach, organized by the Women’s Society. Mrs. Fahimeh, Imam Khomeini’s daughter, welcomed the participants. I spoke about the period in which Imam Khomeini matured, his personality as a jurist, philosopher, and mystic, and his exceptional leadership.

I returned home and studied until evening. Today, following telephone negotiations between [Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif], the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, and [Slobodan Milošević], the president of Yugoslavia, expressing his willingness to accept the proposals of the Group of Eight after lengthy negotiations with [Viktor] Chernomyrdin, Russia’s special envoy, hopes have increased for an easing of tensions in Kashmir and the Balkans.

In Nigeria, after fifteen years of military rule, the government of [Olusegun Obasanjo], the president elected by the people, took office today, although he himself is a retired military officer.

Today, Mr. [Fereydoun] Vardi-Nejad, head of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), and Mr. [Mohammad Reza] Zohdi, managing director of the Arya newspaper, were arrested by the Press Court because they had refused to post the bail demanded by the court. In the afternoon, news arrived that Vardi-Nejad had been released.