Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - May 9, 2002

Shahid Rajaee Camp in Baghrud is 600 hectares. Half of it is in the hands of the IRGC and half is in the hands of education. They want the IRGC to evacuate it. The commanders of the IRGC region also agree to hand over the camp on the condition that they give the necessary land and funds to provide a similar site, because they know that taking over the camp is harmful to the dignity of the IRGC

In the combined cycle power plant, the deputy minister of energy expressed concern about the possibility of power outages in the summer due to the lack of water storage, and asked me to help solve the shortage.

Full text of the diary:

After the pilgrimage and breakfast, we headed to Neyshabur. Mr. [Seyyed Hassan] Rasouli, the governor, and Mr. [Nourali] Shushtari, one of the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, were in my car and answered my questions on the way. Mr. Rasouli explained his role in the election campaign of the agents to the Fifth Majlis and said that the action of the agents was the most important fundamental turning point.  

We went to the hall of the commemoration ceremony of 2,130 martyrs of Neyshabur city. There was a large crowd outside the hall. It was a magnificent gathering, with artistic programs, songs, reports, welcomes, and then a detailed speech about Khorasan and Nishabur, martyrdom, martyrs, and current issues, including Palestine.  I responded to people's emotions in the street.

 We went to the Shahid Rajaee camp in the north of the city, which is very clean and spacious – 600 hectares. Half of it is in the hands of the IRGC and half is in the hands of education. They want the IRGC to evacuate it. The commanders of the IRGC region also agree to hand over the camp on the condition that they give the necessary land and funds for the preparation of a similar site, because they know that the capture of the camp is harmful to the dignity of the IRGC and they must give permission from the center.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the tomb of Fadl ibn Shadhan, [a Shiite jurist and theologian of the third century AH] and the Martyrs' Cemetery, and from there to the village of the Wooden Mosque, which belongs to the grandson of Ayatollah Shaykh Muhammad Kazem Khorasani, [known as Akhund Khorasani, one of the marja's of emulation and scholars of the principles of jurisprudence, the author of the book Kifayat al-usul, and one of the main supporters of the constitutional movement]. Mr. Mojtahedi, an earthquake engineer who worked for the United States for a while in Alaska and now has come to Iran to rehabilitate his father's village and uses the experience of the United States to build wooden buildings, explained. In Basij Square, I unveiled the statue of the Unknown Soldier, which is installed next to the grave of the Anonymous Martyr Sheikh. They have also built a good mosque there.

We went to the combined cycle power plant. The managers were collective. Dr. [Mohammad] Ahmadian, Deputy Minister of Electricity [and Energy] of the Ministry of Energy, reported. He expressed concern about the possibility of power outages in the summer due to the lack of water storage, and said that 24,000 megawatts of new electricity should be added by 2011, which is not possible with the current credits. He asked me for help to overcome my shortcomings. I also promised to support the need to provide sufficient electricity, because the government's shortcomings have caused a delay and have not been able to maintain 20 percent of the storage during the construction period.  

We went to the steel factory. It was started during my time and recently its first phase with a capacity of 550,000 tons has been launched. They use imported scraps. They are waiting for the activation of the Sangan iron ore mine, the construction of a railway to Sangan, and the establishment of pelletizing and reclamation factories, which are behind schedule. Mr. [Eshaq] Jahangiri, [Minister of Mines and Metals] and his deputies had also come from Tehran.

After the Maghrib and Isha prayers, we went to the seminary. The students and scholars were gathered. Mr. [Seyyed Ali] Mousavifar reported and I also spoke.  They want to rebuild the school, it is very old, old and humble. I visited one of its rooms and its small library. I donated one million tomans and six courses of my writings to the library and gave five thousand tomans for single people and ten thousand tomans for married people to all students.

I wanted to visit the Jameh Mosque next to the school, but the crowd in the street prevented me from welcoming him. We went to the camp. The city officials came. The commander of the Basij, the head of the city council, the head of the judiciary, and the representative of the city made demands. 
After dinner, I read the news. A massive explosion among Russian troops in Dagestan killed 41 people and injured many others.