Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 011
Chapter Title: Coup Conditions 7: External Allies
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Iranian Royal Palace.
A fax machine installed in the palace spat out paper with a loud racket.
Beeeep~~ Zziiing~ Zziiing~ Zziiiing~~.
Hassan, who had been waiting in front of the fax machine, tore off the freshly printed sheet with a sharp rip and checked its contents.
He then returned to my side, carrying it on a silver tray.
I picked up the document from the tray while lounging on a plush single-seater sofa.
Hassan, standing at my side, added a briefing.
"Just as Your Highness predicted, everything is proceeding accordingly. The Carter administration has refused the summons for His Majesty the King. The royal accounts have similarly rejected any handover to Khomeini's side."
The faxed document was a report from Dark Angel, the asset management firm based in New York.
Inside the report was piping-hot intel that the White House hadn't even announced yet.
"Of course. With the presidential election coming up next year, they'll make the official announcement soon enough."
"Yes. At this rate, we can consider a complete diplomatic break with the United States as a foregone conclusion."
Iran, which had until now been treated as America's closest ally, had seen its relations with the U.S. turn ice-cold after the revolution.
The F-16 purchase deal had been indefinitely postponed,
and all exchanges through diplomatic channels had been fully suspended.
Khomeini had completely reversed the previous royal diplomatic lines,
declaring anti-American, anti-Israel stances as the foundational principles of foreign policy.
Hassan spoke with a note of regret.
"In the end, the ones who will suffer from this are our own people."
"Can't be helped. Even if there was some election fraud involved, the fact is the majority of the populace supported Khomeini. They chose him themselves, so isn't it only natural that they bear some responsibility?"
"Well said, Your Highness."
"Don't look so heartbroken over it. We've got a long road ahead."
"A long road ahead..."
"Once America makes this official announcement, Khomeini's side will start dancing like madmen in earnest. Nothing gives a dictator a better excuse than an external enemy."
"Things will get chaotic."
"They will. We need to give our scholars a heads-up in advance."
"Yes. What are your orders?"
"No matter what happens, do not act rashly. Hide your light and build your strength. When the time comes, rise all at once and achieve a true revolution."
In response to Iran's demand for the King's summons and the announcement of oil production cuts and export bans, the Carter administration issued an official statement.
- The United States has never recognized the Iran Founding Committee, which announced the export ban, as a legitimate representative of the Kingdom of Iran, and is closely monitoring the current chaos within Iran.
- Our administration is in close communication with both the King and the Founding Committee, hoping to resolve the current diplomatic friction.
- We will do our utmost to ensure the Iranian crisis is resolved peacefully and swiftly, in the spirit of democracy.
America had effectively rejected the Islamic revolutionary government's demands for the King's summons and the handover of the royal family's assets in the U.S.
Immediately after America's announcement, Khomeini and the Founding Committee issued a statement and cracked down internally.
- America's behavior is no different from colonial manipulation of our Iranian Empire through its corrupt puppet King.
- As the sole legitimate representative backed by the people, our Founding Committee cannot tolerate America's treatment of us as a colony.
- The Iranian people will resolutely stand against American imperialism in the name of God.
Iranian state broadcasting relentlessly condemned America day and night, airing content urging the King's summons.
While deflecting public discontent toward America,
Khomeini and his clerical group began unilaterally pushing Islamic reforms from the shadows.
Right after their victory in the referendum and announcing the founding of the Islamic Republic on April 1,
they first moved to seize control of the judiciary.
April 1979
The Founding Committee abolished the existing judiciary
and dismissed a large number of judges.
In its place, they established revolutionary courts,
and clerics took the judges' seats.
These courts, opened without public knowledge, held secret trials day and night, even on rest days.
Those brought to trial were mostly key figures from the former royal regime.
First up was former Prime Minister Amir, hauled before the court,
sentenced to death in a sham trial,
and executed just days later.
Next came Naghi Simurak, former SAVAK director,
along with former Defense Minister Raqi, and others.
Those who had held power under the King's regime were dragged one after another to these kangaroo courts, denied proper defense, sentenced to death, and executed on the spot—a routine occurrence.
Journalists and private media outlets that had grown under the Pahlavi regime tried to raise issues,
but articles were censored and deleted by the Founding Committee's oversight agencies, leading to shutdowns of newspapers and magazines.
Within a mere month, hundreds of media outlets were closed.
Journalists who spoke out were quietly abducted by revolutionary forces backing the Founding Committee, imprisoned, and tortured.
Having monopolized judicial power, the clerical group then turned their blades on their fellow revolutionaries.
Hundreds of Mujahideen veterans who had done the dirty work underground during the revolution, along with Tudeh Party members from the Iranian Communist faction, were dragged to trial, secretly convicted, and promptly executed.
Their revolutionary comrades rebelled furiously at the clerical betrayal, but the scales had already tipped heavily.
With judicial power secured through revolutionary courts, Khomeini moved on to seizing legislative and executive authority.
Enter the Revolutionary Council.
The council began replacing existing laws with Sharia.
Substituting constitutional content with Sharia—principles from the Quran and Hadith—was groundwork to mold state operations and the people's very thoughts to the clergy's taste.
They mandated hijab for women
and restricted their entry into public office.
Female civil servants and judges already in high positions were mass-dismissed.
Clerics inserted themselves into decision-making roles across the nation.
By early summer,
outraged citizens, whose initial hopes for the republic had been utterly dashed, could no longer hold back and poured into the streets.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Is this why we revolted?!"
"This your republic? Who the hell supported this?!"
"We oust the King, and now the mosque takes his place?!"
"This is worse than before! How far are you gonna turn this country upside down?!"
Citizens gathered in the squares, marching and denouncing Khomeini and the Founding Committee.
But this time, they were met by
revolutionary warriors unleashing their savagery and rage under the guise of revolution.
Thousands of revolutionaries blocked the protesters,
swinging batons at the civilians.
"Kill them all!"
"Slaughter the counter-revolutionaries!"
"Royal slaves! Yankee puppets—die, you bastards!"
"Uwaaaah!!"
"Kill~~!!"
Hundreds of feral beasts blocked the protesters' front and rear, mercilessly swinging batons and rifle butts at the citizens.
Batons cracked skulls,
rifle stocks smashed faces.
Thwack! Thud-thud-thwack! Thwack-thwack-thud! Thwack!
"You crazy bastards!"
"Argh!"
"So this is what the revolution was for!"
"Kyaaak!! Help!!"
The revolutionary warriors forcibly dispersed the protesters with violence, then grabbed civilians at random, labeled them counter-revolutionaries, and dragged them to prisons and torture chambers.
The revolution had begun to end the King's and SAVAK's tyranny,
but its outcome was a bloodier feast of fanatics.
October 1979, Iranian Royal Palace.
Summer had passed before they knew it, giving way to autumn.
Half a year had flown by since the revolutionary committee's decision placed the palace under house arrest.
Outwardly, not a step beyond the grounds, but in reality, through the scholars we'd planted across Iran, I grasped the internal situation faster and more accurately than anyone.
Hassan, standing beside me, spoke with regret.
"It seems even Karim Sanjabi, the party leader, has been placed under house arrest."
Karim Sanjabi.
Alongside Khomeini, one of the two pillars of the revolutionary forces, advocating for a democratic, Western-style republic.
But the clerical group, having seized control via revolutionary courts and the council, had successfully placed even this rival under house arrest.
Anti-government protests across the nation had been brutally crushed by revolutionary warriors time and again,
and now their central figure, Karim, was neutralized.
"No one left with the clout to check Khomeini and the clerical faction."
"Not entirely gone yet."
"Not entirely? Then who remains? Surely not His Majesty the King?"
"What use is a puppet with cut strings?"
Might've been too blunt about Father,
but facts are facts.
"Not His Majesty? Then are you referring to yourself, Your Highness?"
"I could be a possibility. But there's someone even more certain, someone who can flip the current regime anytime."
"Such a person exists?"
"Not a person. America."
"Ah. But the Carter administration has stepped back from the Iran issue ahead of their election."
For America,
neither the Pahlavi King who sparked the revolution,
nor the religious forces dragging the country astray,
could be supported.
So they were standing aside, focused only on ensuring the crisis didn't impact their own election.
"True, they've stepped back. Which is why we need to make it impossible for them to stay on the sidelines."
"Make it impossible how?"
"It's time to send Father... to America."
Hassan's eyes widened.
Shah Reza Pahlavi II's entry into the United States.
This was an implicit red line between Iran and America.
If it happened,
the fanatics already hostile to America would explode in rage toward the U.S.
"Will America even accept him? It'd surely spark a diplomatic firestorm."
Pahlavi II had attempted U.S. entry multiple times before.
But each time, preempted by American measures, his path had been blocked.
"We'll make them accept. That's what the last ten years of backbreaking work were for, right? Put all our lines in America into full gear. No holds barred. Make sure Father sets foot on U.S. soil."
Hassan pondered briefly.
The Shah's U.S. entry
would drag Iran-U.S. relations into a new phase.
The young prince before him clearly intended to upend the delicate board between Iran and America entirely.
The future was unpredictable, but one thing was certain: it would get worse than now.
But he soon bowed his head.
His role was to fulfill his duty.
Nothing more.
"Yes. As Your Highness wills. We'll proceed exactly as ordered."
A few days later,
October 22.
Kennedy International Airport, United States.
A private jet quietly touched down on the dimly lit runway.
Reza Pahlavi II, unwelcome by both sides as the root of the Iranian crisis,
had finally set foot on American soil.
With this, the stage was set.