Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 17, 1989

After prayer, exercise, watching the news and reports, and having breakfast, I had a meeting with Mr. [Alireza] Moiri, who was appointed to be the [president's] adviser on international relations; He refused to become the head of the [Islamic Republic – IRNA] news agency. At nine o'clock, we went to the stadium with 100,000 people and I gave a speech at the gathering of commanders of the IRGC and Basij. At 10:30 I had a meeting with Mr. [Hossein] Mahluji [Minister of Mines and Metals], who asked for permission to conclude contracts with foreign companies for the implementation of construction projects.

Then there was a meeting with Mr. Aghazadeh [Minister of Oil], who reported the completion of a one billion dollar oil pre-sale deal and a deal with the [American] Ashland company to collect claims that they are supposed to pay 330 million dollars; 285 million dollars for the price of oil, which we paid at the beginning of the revolution, and 45 million dollars for interest. He gave a report on the status of the Caspian Sea drilling and consulted about OPEC and price policy and talked about shipbuilding on the Caspian coast.

Mr. [Sidabolfazl] Mousavi Tabrizi, the head of the Court of Administrative Justice, came. He demanded the cooperation of the executive bodies with the Court regarding the execution of sentences and appealed for the lack of funds. Mr. [Syed Mohammad] Mirmohammadi had some questions for the organization of the office.

I attended the government meeting in the evening. The notes of the [five-year] program were in the order. Most of the suggested notes were unnecessary and were deleted. Leaders came to my office at night. We negotiated about the credits of the armed forces. It turned out that the amount offered could not change much. It was decided to make a decision in this section according to the needs of the country. Foreign policy was also discussed. It was decided to act based on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the case of America, they said that relations are not possible so soon, but there is no problem with cooperation, as far as the freedom of our hostages and property is concerned. The criticism of radicals and some appointments were also discussed, as well as the responsibility of managing the Islamic Republic News Agency [IRNA].