Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 12, 1993

I slept very badly last night and today I was tired and exhausted. I was in my office at half past eight and I did the work until ten in the morning. Successful students participated in mathematics, chemistry, physics and computer Olympiads. Dr. [Mohammed Ali] Najafi, [Minister of Education]

Photo of meeting with Mathematical Olympiad

He explained and I spoke encouragingly to them and gave prizes to them and their managers and coaches.

Ms. [Nafis] Siddique, Executive Director of UN Population Control came. He reported on the international efforts to control the population and called Iran among the successful countries and Pakistan and India among the unsuccessful countries. The reason is the illiteracy of their people and the lack of control facilities. I emphasized that the training and coordination center that they intend to establish should be in Iran. He himself accepted that the teachings of Iranian scholars and the faith of the Iranian people are factors of success and that Iran can influence other Islamic countries.

The Pakistani delegation came. They brought the letter of Mr. Moin Trishi, the interim prime minister, who asked Pakistan to participate in the construction of sugar and sugar cane factories in Khuzestan. I told Dr. [Isa] Kalantari, [Minister of Agriculture] to investigate.

Mr. Dr. [Syed Mahmoud] Tabatabayi, [President of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences] came. He complained to Dr. [Alireza] Marandi, [Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education] to return the disturbing people to the university. I told Dr. Marandi not to rush.

At half past two, we went to the [Mehrabad] airport to welcome Mr. [Ali] Ezzat Begovic, the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An official reception was held. The resident table had also come. We had a short interview. It came from Saudi Arabia. They went to the residence with Dr. Velayati and I returned to my office. I did the work and went to the meeting of the government board.

I told Mr. [Akbar] Turkan, [Minister of Roads and Transport] to deny the news of the increase in train fares announced by his deputy. Akhavi Mohammad, [Chairman of the Broadcasting Organization], reported on his trip to Germany and talks with Mr. [Helmut] Kohl, [Prime Minister of Germany]. I returned to my office before the end of the government meeting.

I said to Dr. Velayati, before the American protests that arrive through the Swiss embassy, ​​we should also send against them. I told him to give one million dollars of the remaining price of the donated oil to the President of Bosnia. The Bosnian delegation came for the first round of negotiations. They are very grateful for the help of the Iranian delegation. They said that they are completely surrounded and that they have run out of weapons and they only have a part of our aid. They asked for more help. Their problem is serious and they are in a dead end and under siege. They suggested that we act through the Croats, the Serbs, the Russians, or Western or Islamic countries to help them and deliver aid. Let's use the suggestion of specifying the missiles to the Croats that they need to fight the Serbs, in order to lift the siege and deliver weapons to the Muslims. I agreed. He was supposed to raise the issue in his meeting with the President of Croatia the day after tomorrow. He also asked for help to rebuild and accept their unemployed professionals.

We had a meeting with the leader at night. They were my guests for dinner. We also discussed the issues of Bosnia and Palestine, the islands, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the Ministry of Economy and Dr. Manafi, and met with Ezzat Begovic. We agreed on all matters. I arrived home late.