Khamenei's puppet

An excerpt of my thriller "The global threat".

From his very first days in office Iran's President Hassan Rohanei suspected always that he is being under surveillance. He had no knowledge in this enigmatic domain, or any training of course. He did not check to reveal whether he is being trailed or listened to; or whether his emails or other messages written or electronic are being under the control of the MOIS (the intelligence service). Thus he had to refer to it as if he is being supposedly protected by his country's intelligence service, and keep his mouth shut tight. He did not feel like a free human being at home in his own country, as he felt abroad while meeting with different European leaders. The pleasant atmosphere in which he was hosted, despite the lies he kept telling them; still he enjoyed immensely his stay abroad and in Europe in particular. In the US things were not much different for truth sake, but it must have been the suspicion and hatred he always felt towards the Americans. Returning home for the Iranian President was like falling down a precipice from the peak of a high mountain. He felt like being the supreme leader's puppet, although he could not ignore the fact that it was Khamenei who has chosen him for this elated position. When the supreme leader summoned him to his office and told him that he would replace Ahmadinejad as the state's president, he was in euphoria and kissed Khamenei's hand with fervor, and showered him with thanks; and although he was aware to the strict control of Khamenei on his predecessor, and the ill treatment the latter had to suffer in his last days in office, he did not think that it's going to be his fate too. Thus he was summoned to Khamenei's office day in day out to consultations, in which he was not asked what his opinion was, but was compelled to sit and listen to the supreme leader strict instructions. There were times when he was scoffed and scolded by the supreme leader, who was after all an old and bitter man. Whenever he could he found refuge in his Sadabad Palace office where he wrote detailed reports on his trips abroad, and his impressions on the Western leaders that he met; or he met there with his close friends in which his vice president Jahangiri had to participate too, under the supreme leader's instructions. But after the last top secret meeting Jahangiri kept playing the role of an informer, but became Rohanei's friend and adherent.

Another mean of solace were the times in which Rohanei had to preside the Majlis sittings before holidays and national events. But the fear of hostilities with far more stronger foes, which might lead to a fearful war; in which Iran might lose all its technological achievements and progress, which were gained by wise diplomacy and shrewdness kept tormenting him as he could not do a thing to prevent it or warn against it.

© Haim Kadman February 2014 �" all rights reserved