Memories of Akbar Hashemi - May 15, 2002

The leader said that they have asked Mr. Khatami for an explanation regarding the turmoil in the country and the repetition of the lack of freedom. Their objection is that if there is freedom in the country, why do they keep repeating it. They also made some remarks about the proposal for attracting foreign investment.

Complete text of the daily report:

We had a meeting with the deputies of the [Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council]. Discussions were held regarding the Caspian Sea, relations with Azerbaijan and Russia, and the issues of employment and security.

In the afternoon, the officials of the Mosque Restoration Headquarters came. Mr. Taghi Qaraati, the head of the Mosque Affairs Center, along with Ahmad and Abadi, reported on the mosque management training program for Imams. I also spoke about the importance and mission of the mosque and the necessity to appoint an Imam for 30,000 mosques without Imams. Mr. Mohsen Iravani, a member of the Expediency Council and the head of Imam's Executive Command, came. He made some remarks about the weaknesses of the foreign investment attraction plan.

I went to see the leader. His condition is better, but they still haven't allowed him to use the stairs. They said they have asked Mr. Khatami, the president, for an explanation regarding the country's turmoil, his resignation, and the repeated lack of freedom. They haven't responded to the first issue, denied the second, and said he would explain the third later. His objection is that isn't there freedom in the country that they keep repeating this. He also made some remarks about the foreign investment attraction plan.

The announcement of the prison sentences for the primary interrogators of the serial murder defendants, ranging from one to five years, has a wide impact. Leftist newspapers continue to maneuver on the issue of Mr. [Seyed Mohammad] Khatami's potential resignation. Criticism of his plan to create 300,000 jobs is escalating, labeling it as misleading and wrong. There is criticism of the government's purchase of used airplanes.

In India, 350 people died due to the heat in the south, and 33 others were killed in an attack by Kashmiri militants, reportedly including the leader of the Jhangvi group.

The signing of the Caspian Sea division agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan and the possibility of a Russia-Azerbaijan agreement has become a contentious issue. Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, after his party's approval of the opposition to an independent Palestinian state, has made coercive demands for negotiations with the Palestinians in an opportunistic move, and some European countries have protested against this Israeli policy. In Belgium, once again, the possibility of prosecuting Sharon has been raised.

America has accused Cuba of producing biological weapons, and [Jimmy] Carter, the former President of the United States - who is in Cuba - says that America has no reason to make such claims and has asked Cuba to undertake reforms.