Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - January 14, 2002

Concerns about the real budget deficit and the possibility of foreign borrowing

Full text of the newspaper:

Today, protests against the cartoon in Hayat Nou continued. Messrs. [Hadi] Ghanemifard, Sadatian, and [Fereidoun] Golafra, [organizers of the National Cotton Conference] came. They gave explanations about the decline in cotton cultivation and related industries and asked me to participate in the cotton conference.
Mr. [Reza] Zavareh, [a member of the Guardian Council of Iran's legal department] came and expressed concern about the real budget deficit next year and the possibility of foreign borrowing. Mr. [Asghar] Ghaffari, CEO of Refah Stores, came. He said that the number of stores has reached 80 and they are profitable. He gave many explanations about the working method.
In the afternoon, Mr. [Abbas Ali] Alizadeh, [Chief Justice of Tehran Province], and Mr. [Saeed] Mortazavi, [Tehran Prosecutor], came. They brought the documents of the trial of the Future Polling Institute and the contaminated meats, and explained about their possible verdicts, as well as the trials of the religious nationalists and the Freedom Movement, as well as the sentencing of some members of parliament to prison that has not yet been carried out, and the group that has a case, and the numerous cases of the Dahl clause. Mr. Alizadeh said that the case of [Abbas] Abdi is open regarding the origin and centers of preparation of classified documents and their use.
The movement of personalities to Iran and regional countries has increased in connection with the Iraq crisis, and the United States continues to beat the drum of war; although [George] Bush, [US President], has fallen in popularity according to the results of a new opinion poll.
The Venezuelan crisis continues, and despite OPEC’s decision to increase production by 1.5 million barrels, oil prices have not fallen due to the crisis in Venezuela and Iraq.
Foreign and counter-revolutionary media outlets have come out in support of Hayat-e-No [newspaper] and are justifying the cartoon. The Mojahedin of the Revolution and the Second Khordad [organization] have criticized the suspension of Bahar and Hayat-e-No newspapers, and the [Islamic] Propaganda [Coordination] Council has called for the demonstrations to be stopped and legal action to be taken. Three Hayat-e-No employees have also been arrested.
[UN] weapons inspectors in Iraq have increased their activities, receiving information from the UK and the US, and have also inspected the centers of the MKO [People’s Mojahedin Organization], and have added 60 inspectors and eight new helicopters. While investigators have asked for more time, [George] Bush has said Iraq's window of opportunity is running out.
British agents continue to pursue the discovery of the poison ricin. One police officer has been killed and two others wounded in the process.
The Tehran City Council has been dissolved by order of the Central Dispute Resolution Board [and handling complaints from Islamic city and village councils] of the Ministry of Interior.