The Screaming Eagles (5 page)

Kameran Samimi, Michael’s Iranian business partner, had informed him weeks ago, that Prime Minister Hoyveda had warned the Shah that he was in danger of a Khomeni takeover. Kameran knew Hoyveda. It was their friendship that allowed Michael to present to the government the first recycling plant project to be built in Iran. The Swiss company with which Michael had contracted was currently doing feasibility studies to see how many plants would be needed to recycle garbage into electricity in Teheran. The sites for five plants had already been selected and the next phase of the project would be to coordinate the garbage truck pick-up systems.

Kameran and Hoyveda’s friendship had begun when they were both students at Teheran University. It had also allowed Michael’s company to bid for a number of large-scale projects in which the government was interested. Because of the complexity involved when negotiating with international conglomerates, Hoyveda had kept Kameran apprised of the political situation on a day-to-day basis.

Kameran shared Hoyveda’s concerns.

One morning Kameran returned from his briefing with Hoyveda and informed Michael that Hoyveda had put a freeze on their projects for seven days.

“Why, what happened?” asked Michael.

Hoyveda that day had informed the Shah that Khomeni’s taped speeches were being smuggled into Iran by low-level foreign diplomats. The Prime Minister demanded that the diplomats be expelled. Obstinately, the Shah refused. Savak, Iran’s secret police, had detained hundreds of suspects in the past few weeks. More than two thirds of the suspects corroborated that Khomeni’s speeches were telephoned into Iran, taped and then played in mosques throughout the country at Friday morning prayers.

Dozens of soldiers, were attacked, many killed. Hoyveda, as Prime Minister, received these figures daily. He was alarmed, as were his advisors.

The Shah refused to cut direct telephone connections and have telephone operators monitor all international calls. After all, it was he, Shah Reza Pahlavi who had banished Khomeni from Iran. He could have had him executed. Instead, benevolently he had permitted him to go into exile. Khomeni was just a rabble-rouser of no consequence. The Shah had argued with Hoyveda that acknowledging him would accord him status. If he were ignored, the Iranian people would soon lose interest in him.

Speeches were just words. Words could not stop bullets. Khomeni only had words. He, the Shah, had bullets, lots and lots of bullets. He reminded Hoyveda that he had one of the strongest armies in the Middle East, stronger even than Israel’s. Israel and America were his friends and allies. With their help if needed, he could overrun any enemy. Hoyveda’s hands were tied and he was seriously considering resigning because the Shah would not heed his warning that the insurrection would be internal, not an external invasion.

Hoyveda, always in the background, never looking for headlines was a perfect foil to the opulence and decadence of the Shah and his twin sister, Princess Ashraf. The Shah took pride in his excesses, as did Ashraf. Hoyveda was the one to defend these excesses and put them into a context that his loyal subjects could understand and support.

Searching doggedly, he found clauses in the constitution that allowed the Shah to divorce Queen Saroya because she was unable to conceive a child, thus allowing the Shah to choose a new wife and remarry again.

Cleverly playing to their weaknesses, Hoyveda was able to keep the mullahs happy, even as he eroded their power. His greatest strength, however, was choosing the right military people who were dedicated and loyal to the Shah. He had made the Iranian army one of the strongest in the region.

The Shah sat on the throne, but right behind him, in the shadow of power, was “Madam Ten Percent”, as Princess Ashraf was known. She had her fingers in nearly every large-scale government project. Any man, any age, married or single, was fair game for the princess. She was an overt predator, never bothering to hide her aggressiveness. It was a game. It was also her birthright to do whatever she wished, whenever she wished and to whomever she wished.

After all, she and her twin brother, the Shah, owned a country and its people. Her rationale was, if you own something and it’s all yours, you can do anything with it. Her twin had the fame and glory as a world statesman, in addition to his absolute and unlimited power. Why couldn’t she too, have her own power base? If any company wanted to bid for government business, most times the boardroom negotiations were concluded in her bedroom if she was attracted to the negotiator. She flaunted her power. In his sermons, Khomeni called her the “She-devil, the mother of all prostitutes.” The Lockheed scandal was the first time she was unable to protect her “front men.” Khomeni pounced on this, pronouncing that this was the beginning of her end.

The Shah lived in the Imperial Palace, but also maintained a penthouse at the Hilton Hotel, which consisted of an entire floor. He had the Hilton build a special heli-pad so whenever he had an urge to have a romantic evening, he could fly there from his palace. Residents who lived in the helicopter’s path would hear his helicopter overhead and smile. They understood that their virile ruler, praised be he, was also a man who, like all men, needed the comfort of a woman’s arms.

Kameran lived near the Hilton and on most evenings when Michael visited him, they heard the helicopter. Iranians for centuries had accepted that the way the Shah and his sister behaved was normal for Iran’s monarchy.

Khomeni did not. Whenever possible, he denounced their excesses as an abomination, condemned by the Holy Koran.

Hoyveda, in touch with the people, sensed their growing anger. He was convinced that the man he had served loyally for nearly twenty years had lost touch with reality. The new reality was that the people and the mullahs were actively supporting Khomeni.

At first, Michael had not believed what Kameran had said, or Hoyveda’s fears, until the riots broke out on the sixth of September. This was the day that martial law was declared.

Searching for answers, as his business future was at stake, Michael persuaded Kameran to explain how the chain of events leading to the imminent collapse of their business had started. Michael’s situation was desperate and together they needed to come up with some sort of plan.

Iranian television was heavily censored, so Michael listened to the Voice of America and the BBC news service on a Zenith transoceanic radio. He had not read in Newsweek, Time or the Herald Tribune any of the accusations Kameran and Hoyveda had made. However, as events started unfolding, Michael realized that their previous warnings to him weeks ago had been right on target. He had just not listened. It was Michael’s fault entirely. If Hoyveda’s predictions were going to happen, civil war was imminent. Iran would disintegrate, and Michael’s business ventures would be wiped out.

Kameran’s brother-in-law, Mohmen, a retired brigadier, acted as a consultant for numerous American conglomerates. Kameran invited Michael to visit Mohmen to brainstorm and share his thoughts and observations on what the future held for Iran. They went to his office and what Mohmen shared with Michael that afternoon left him dumbfounded.

Mohmen also consulted for Westinghouse, one of the largest American conglomerates in Iran. Mohmen had an office there, as did Michael. It was Mohmen who had introduced Michael to his sister’s husband, Kameran, who was now Michael’s partner. Westinghouse had an enormous presence in Iran, with a virtual monopoly of at least a dozen of their subsidiaries. Their ten story building on Mirdemad street one of the main thoroughfares, had very tight security, as their main business was to supply and arm the military with sophisticated electronic equipment. They were also negotiating to build the first nuclear power station.

Michael had the exclusive rights to sell Coral Ridge Properties, a Westinghouse subsidiary that constructed and built cities. Their two main projects were Fort Lauderdale and Coral Springs in Florida. Mohmen spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh, Westinghouse’s head office, as well as in Washington, where he was an accredited foreign lobbyist. Mohmen’s insight into American politics at that level and the connections he had in the Middle East were of tremendous help to Westinghouse, and in a small way, through Kameran, Michael’s business also benefited. His understanding of Capitol Hill was far more incisive and accurate than, Michael’s. The fact that Kameran, and Michael in particular, had not heeded Mohmen’s earlier warnings was now coming back to haunt them.

*

Mohmen’s office, like the man himself, was obsessively neat, nothing out of place or untidy. As usual he was impeccably dressed in a thousand-dollar suit and silk tie bought in either Paris or Rome. A large silver tray was on his desk with delicate fine china teacups. Mohmen poured strong black tea and offered them sugar before sitting down. He held up his hand, three fingers extended. Dramatically, he bent one finger. “First reason,” he said.

“The Shah relied only on the United States for arms. He could have bought them from France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, anywhere, but he didn’t. Secondly, he also suffered from lack of spare parts for all sectors of the military. As Iran was not at war or currently being threatened, it had about thirty percent of its weaponry ready for immediate use. This was the accepted norm if a country was not being threatened. Enemy countries were constantly monitored for unusual troop movements or buildups. If anything would trigger an alert, it would be war games. The closer the war games were to any Iranian border, or troop movements in Iraq or Russia, the greater the alert. Iran would then turn to its arms supplier, America, for immediate shipment of spare parts to take it up to a ninety-percent readiness.

This buildup to nearly war status had happened every few years, triggered mostly by Iraqi troop movements. Only twice was Russian deployment of troops a cause. Buildups cost a great deal of a country’s revenues. When war games ceased, Iran would be left with an army at war ready, but it would have no war to fight. However, the debts Iran had incurred would have to be repaid rapidly. The Shah had always paid his debts promptly from oil revenues, so he was confident that America would supply him at any time. This lulled him into a false sense of security, so Hoyveda’s warnings fell on deaf ears.”

Mohmen poured himself a second cup of tea then topped up Michael’s. Kameran declined. Mohmen bent his second finger. “The CIA’s informants confirmed Khomeni’s aura as a messiah was building him into a legend. Also, he promised that all Iranians, not just a privileged few would share in the bounty of the earth, oil. This bounty belonged to the people, all the people. It was their right to receive their share. Khomeni promised to give it to them. For the United States, if this did truly happen, it would be a bonanza. Instead of selling to a small group of extremely wealthy people who were hiding their profits in Switzerland and other countries, rather than building an infrastructure in Iran, Khomeni would create a large population of middle class who would all buy their needs from American companies. To America it was a win-win situation. Everyone would benefit. Thirty-five million Iranians would receive increased wages, a viable middle class would be created, and the American business community would be standing first in line to sell them every conceivable product. Selling products to Iranians created jobs. Jobs created revenues which would help America to get millions of unemployed people out of the bad recession Jimmy Carter’s America was wallowing in.”

Finally, Mohmen’s last remaining finger bent down. “Khomeni saw communist atheism as a danger to his power base which was the pure religion that he planned to reintroduce into Iran. As a vocal anti-Communist, and anti-Russian, he was without a doubt America’s soul mate. The Shah was also anti-Russian, so America had nothing to lose. The Shah, who had been invited to the White House by successive presidents, feted by members of Congress, called America’s best friend in the Middle East, did not realize that his country was disintegrating, rapidly slipping away from him. Iranian politicians saw it, the military saw it, the secret police warned him, but Shah Reza Pahlavi, keeper of the Peacock Throne, could not or would not see it. Business leaders, military men and political insiders all began leaving on extended vacations with their families. They were far more clever than the Shah.”

Mohmen paused, poured himself another cup of tea. This time Kameran did not decline.

*

The clever ones ran; naive ones like Michael had stayed. The clever ones would survive, even if they were in a self-imposed exile. Michael did not know if he would or could survive.

Through his contacts Michael had learned that the Israeli government was also in a state of panic. Mossad, the Israeli secret service, had reported two major developments. The first was the fact that Israel’s best friend in the Arab world was about to go under. Secondly, Mossad was certain that the civil war, would be won by Khomeni. Khomeni hated Israel, always ending his speeches with “Jihad,” inciting a holy war to free Jerusalem. Michael’s sons, Darren and Grant, were serving in the Israeli army. If Israel was involved in another war with the Arabs, his sons would be in the front lines.

The next morning, at six o’clock sharp, Michael started his car, as did most other Teheranis. He listened to the car radio to be sure of the exact time. He didn’t want to give a trigger-happy soldier an excuse to start shooting a minute before six o’clock. After so many years of driving in Iran, he was used to being on roads where absolute stupidity and a fuck-you attitude were the norm. It took Michael over an hour and a half to drive two miles. He parked in a no-parking zone, deciding to let them ticket him rather than waste time looking for parking space.

Michael had managed to doze for only an hour the previous night and felt like hell. He had a head that ached relentlessly, was mad at everyone and everything, but mainly himself. As he approached the bank, Michael saw what must have been more than a hundred people milling around large, cathedral-type front doors.