Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 14, 2003

The Association of Pediatricians came to thank me for attending their congress, brought a letter of appreciation, requested my participation in next year's congress, and sought assistance to strengthen the association. It was arranged that, to care for the newborns of a Palestinian woman who today gave birth to sextuplets in a refugee camp in Gaza and named one of them "Yasser"—to express opposition to Israel's decision to exile Yasser Arafat—they would express their readiness.

Mr. Hassan Danaifar, Deputy of the Secretariat of the Expediency Discernment Council, came. He requested that I go to Khuzestan for the commemoration ceremony of the martyrs of Dezful and offered suggestions regarding Iraq. Dr. Malek-Taj Khosravi, professor of political law at Islamic Azad University, came. She spoke of instances of discrimination against women in civil law and sought assistance. She said she is the deputy of the Assembly of Specialists. They plan to hold a congress for female specialists and intend to participate in the elections and sought assistance.

In the evening, I officiated the marriage ceremony of Mr. Masoud Babaei, one of the guards. I had a detailed interview with Hamshahri newspaper about the war, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iraq, Palestine, the elections, and the economy.

The discussion of the Board of Governors' resolution against Iran is heated in domestic and foreign media. Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, and Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the Agency, have said that if Iran does not accept, the matter will go to the UN Security Council.

Simultaneously with Powell's first trip to Iraq, attacks against the occupiers intensified, and he said they would continue the occupation and spoke against Iran. A member of the Israeli cabinet explicitly said that Yasser Arafat must be killed, and this statement has sparked a wave of protests against Israel.

The failure of the world trade negotiations in Mexico is important. Developing countries insisted on the elimination of agricultural subsidies in developed countries so that their goods could be present in the markets of developed countries. In contrast, developed countries demanded the opening of developing countries' markets for the presence of their capital and goods, and both sides achieved nothing.