Mikhail Gorbachev from the area around Chernobyl. Taubman noted that the disaster marked "a turning point for Gorbachev and the Soviet regime". Gorbachev later described the incident as one which made him appreciate the scale of incompetence and cover-ups in the Soviet Union. From April to the end of the year, Gorbachev became increasingly open in his criticism of the Soviet system, including food production, state bureaucracy, the military draft, and the large size of the prison population. Gorbachev's primary goal as general secretary was to revive the Soviet economy after the stagnant Brezhnev years. In 1985, he announced that the economy
Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev and Marzieh Hadidchi, went to Moscow to officially deliver the letter. Soviet officials met the Iranian delegation in the airport. Gorbachev then met with the Iranian representatives for approximately two hours, where an interpreter translated the letter for Mikhail Gorbachev and his colleagues. When some part of the letter was unclear, the interpreter asked the Iranian delegation to clarify. Gorbachev listened politely and took notes on its contents. The letter's contents were kept secret, and so Russian officials did not know it was an invitation to consider monotheism and Islam. In his letter, Khomeini congratulated Gorbachev for his bravery in