Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - January 15, 2002

We flew to Mashhad. After being welcomed by the officials of Khorasan Province and Mr. [Abbas Vaez] Tabasi, [the caretaker of Astan Quds Razavi], we went to the banquet hall of the shrine...

Full text of the daily:

Mr. [Morteza] Bakhtiari, the head of the [organization] of prisons, came. He gave a report on the measures and needs. Mr. Ali Hashemi, the representative of Rafsanjan, came. He spoke about the situation of the representatives of the [Participatory] Party and the [Construction] [Party] and the council elections. I finished my work by the afternoon.
At four and a half in the afternoon, we flew to Mashhad. After being welcomed by the officials of Khorasan Province and Mr. [Abbas Vaez] Tabasi, [the caretaker of Astan Quds Razavi], we went to the banquet hall of the shrine.
The scholars and administrators of the province had been invited to the banquet. After eulogizing Imam Reza (AS) on the occasion of his birth, I spoke briefly about the global and regional situation and spirituality, and referring to the cartoon in Hayat-e-No [newspaper], I considered insulting the Imam to be a plot by the arrogant powers.
Late in the evening, Mr. [Ebrahim] Derazgisu, our ambassador to Ashgabat, arrived. He discussed the situation in Turkmenistan and the situation of Mr. [Safar Murad] Niyazov, [President], after the failed attempt on his life and the widespread arrests and dismissal of many heads of state, on the occasion of the meeting the day after tomorrow at the Dosti Dam.
Late in the evening, I went to visit the shrine and went to bed late.