Akbar Hashemi’s Memoirs – February 13, 2003

We went to visit the laser center [in Karaj] that is under construction for uranium enrichment.  We had an agreement with Russia, which was left unfinished due to the pressure of the United States. After Mr. Khatami's statements, the discussion of Iran's nuclear policy is still the focus of military and political commentators, and there is a strong possibility that we will have a serious challenge with the United States in the future.

Full text of the newspaper:

I read the report of Hans Blix, [Chief of UN Weapons Inspectors] to the Security Council on Iraq;  Most of them are the ones I have read before.  Iraq is not satisfied with the 12,000-page report and considers them to be repetitive, and the answer is that it did not provide the materials prepared for the production of the anthrax microbe, which was enough for about six tons of microbe, but only the 850 liters produced, and tried to produce missiles beyond the permitted range. 
I read Mr. Abdulaziz Hakim's report on his trip to Turkey and discussions with [Zalmay] Khalilzad, the US representative for Iraq, who said that the US does not agree with the practical involvement of the opposition forces in military operations, nor does it agree with the formation of an interim government for Iraq, rather, the opposition is used as a consultant, and the US military governs Iraq temporarily after Saddam.  These are contrary to the decisions of the conflict conference in London.  Turkey is also worried about the reinforcement of the Kurds.  
The disagreement between France, Germany and Russia with the United States and the unresolved dispute within NATO regarding Iraq and Turkey have increased the problems of the United States, and the internal dispute in the United States regarding the reduction of taxes by [George] Bush and the opposition of the Democratic Party is another difficulty for Bush;  At the same time, raising the security fever in the country by installing anti-aircraft missiles around Washington and summoning many employees of American embassies and embassies in the Middle East, as a way to prevent danger for them, has increased the inflammation;  While 90% of the British people do not agree with the British participation in the attack on Iraq, and the general opinion of the people of the world is also against it.  
The International Atomic Energy Agency has referred North Korea's nuclear case to the [United Nations] Security Council and has declared that Korea has violated the agency's rules. 
Mr. [Gholamreza] Aghazadeh, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization, came home.  At half past seven in the morning, we went to visit the laser center [in Karaj] that is under construction for uranium enrichment.  Dr. [Jamshid] Sabbaghzadeh, [Director of Iran's National Laser Science and Technology Center] explained.  We had a contract with Russia, which was left unfinished due to the pressure of the United States, and the internal forces continued it, and now it is on the verge of completion.  I visited the laser center.  Its food is uranium metal, which is produced in Isfahan.  Our visit lasted three hours.  
I went to the [office] of the kiosk.  The discussion of Iran's nuclear policy, after the statements of Mr. [Syed Mohammad] Khatami, [the President], is still the focus of military and political commentators, and there is a strong possibility that we will have a serious challenge with America over it in the future.