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Recollections of assignment in Baghdad
By H. Hakimi
Oslo, 2003
In early sixties
at the end of my assignment as First Secretary to our Embassy in Belgrade,
capital of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I returned to
Teheran. Upon my arrival to the Foreign Office, my superiors assigned me
as Deputy Chief of Passport & Visa Department.
In the Passport
Department, I virtually acted as the head of the Department for simple reason
that my immediate boss was a weak, meek person who was afraid of his own
shadow. Not wanting to take any chances, he was quite happy to delegate
the running of the department to me.
Apart from the
routine administration tasks, I had to represent the Passport & Visa
Department outside the Foreign Office and was responsible for all liaisons with
other governmental departments, such as Passport & Visa Department of
Police, the Tourist Organization, The Security Organization (Savak), Frontier
Guard (Marz Bani), the Second Department of the General Staff, and so on. I
made many friends due to my boldness and willingness to take decisions.
The wife of
General Hassan Pakravan, Fatemeh Pakravan was heading the Tourist
Department, attached to the Prime Minister Office, as a deputy Prime
Minister. She was at the time an energetic, dedicated lady whose aim was
to promote Iran as a tourist destination. We therefore did our best to
decrease the unnecessary visa paper work to the minimum. Any foreigner
who was interested to pay a visit to our country had to under go filling up
five pages of all sort of irrelevant questions in three copies, attached with
his/her photograph. After a lot of haggling, we managed to reduce this paper
work to only one page that our representatives abroad did not even need to send
it to Tehran. I became a trusted colleague of Mrs. Pakravan.
I was very happy
to be back home in Teheran and quite happy with my job also. I had no
wish to change my situation for some time. However, one day without prior
warning I was summoned to attend the office of the Deputy Foreign Minister for
Political Affairs, my old Ambassador in Belgrade Dr. Ansari, at once. He
told me that he was urgently assigning me to Baghdad and I had to take up my
new assignment without delay meaning I had to prepare to leave within a few
days. I tried in vain to remind him of an earlier promise: “But sir,
while in Belgrade you said you would assign me to United Nations as part of my
career development.
Now you are sending me to Baghdad?!”
By way of
background, Dr. Ansari had always thought it very important for a career
diplomat to have some exposure to the UN and took a professional interest in
the workings of the UN. He always attended the General Assembly
regardless of where he was posted at the time. He said the Baghdad
appointment, which was going to last for four months at such a critical time,
was far more important in my career than anything a stint at the UN would
offer; then he signaled the end of our meeting by instructing me to let him
know when I was leaving for Baghdad! During the foregoing exchange, he
took out from his desk drawer a new diplomatic passport, ready for my use,
which he handed over to me. I was simply astonished.
I
alluded earlier to this time being a critical period in our history because the
above episode happened just few days after the first Khomeinie inspired
uprising of 1963. The government was in a shock and in somewhat of a
panic. As regards to our relations with our neighbour suffice to say
relations were very poor with regular border skirmishes resulting form numerous
and continuous harassment by Iraqi ground troops and air force Migs.
As for the state of our legation in Iraq, at the time there was no ambassador in our embassy as a few months before the government had recalled the ambassador Gholam Abbas Aram and promoted to Foreign Minister. The Embassy was left with a Charge des Affairs, Dr. Mashayekh Faridany, who was not originally a career diplomat, neither did he have the required skills. He was my Arabic teacher in secondary school. Similar to most students before or after me, I had not learned a word of Arabic even though this was a compulsory subject. I ran into him later in 1953 when I was a junior diplomat and he was Cultural Attaché to our Embassy in Karachi then capital of the newly formed Pakistan. I admired him for his deep knowledge of the Persian Literature. I do not think any body could match him, not even the latecomers Ali Assghar Hekmat (he became Minister of Education on several occasions, Professor of Faculty of Literature in Teheran University and twice Minister of Foreign Affairs), or Forouzanfar (highly respected professor of literature).
In
Karachi, I noticed that Dr Faridany had taken formalities and Persian customs
to absurd limits in his desire to ingratiate himself by appearing very
courteous. Owing to scarcity of rooms in our Embassy in Karachi, I had to
share an office with him. During the course of each working day I had to
go in and out of the room numerous times and each time I came in he would stand
up and give a courtesy bow to me!! The most junior diplomat in the Embassy!! He
was driving me mad. After a while, I could stand it no longer and I
begged the Minister (second in the hierarchy to the Ambassador) to change my
office.
He also tried a
ridiculously old fashioned and outdated tactic of arranging a marriage for me
with Ali Assghar Hekmat’s daughter. Mr. Hekmat was passing through
Karachi on his way to his new post as Ambassador to India in New Delhi.
Dr. Faridany was trying this with a view to ingratiate himself with an
influential person and to make me indebted to him for possible political gain
later. It blew in his face as unbeknown to him Mr Hekmat’s daughter and I
knew each other having been childhood friends and neighbours in Teheran.
She was a friend of my three sisters.
Although
a first rate scholar Dr Faridany had no knowledge of diplomacy and was
ambitious beyond his competence. He had ingratiated himself with the
Ambassador Mr Aram becoming his protégé and Mr Aram took it upon himself to
appoint him as our Charge des Affaires and present him as such to the Iraqi
government against regulations before leaving Baghdad. Dr Faridany
harboured the false notion that he could realize his ambition of obtaining
ambassadorial rank purely by political means alone. The combination of
these factors drove him into deceiving the government of Iraq as well as our
own government. Our Foreign Office had become suspicious because of the
anomalies in his reports and the senior mandarins in the Foreign Office felt
that there was a void in our Embassy, which needed to be filled quickly at this
crucial time.
Yet, the
Minister insisted on keeping his protégé in his post but dispatch an able
carrier diplomat to run the affairs of the embassy, as it should be. That
is the reason the Foreign Office dispatched me to Baghdad. I did not
speak a word of Arabic, nor did I know any thing of our relations with
Iraq. I was only aware of general facts such as the Kurdish question, the
problems with the Clergy) and knew that things are not going well with the two
neighbours (for those who are not aware, there were a large number of Iranians
and Shia clergy living near the holy sites in Iraq. The majority of the
Shia holy sites are in Iraq, something the British knew from the days before
Iraq existed and was just a part of the Ottoman Empire. Divide and Rule
must have been a primary factor in their invention of Iraq as a country).
There was no one
in the Foreign Office who could brief me about my new task in Baghdad.
This was not very encouraging but I had to find a solution and fast. I
decided that I would not proceed to Baghdad unless I get some kind of briefing
from a competent source. That is when the friendship with Mrs. Pakravan
came to my rescue. I contacted her in her office, informed her of my new
and immediate task, asking her to arrange a meeting for me with her husband,
General Hassan Pakravan, the head of Savak..
Although I knew
his brother, I had never met the General.
Within two days,
I met the General in his office. I informed the General that I would not leave
for Baghdad until he and the relevant members of his department fully briefed
me about how I should treat relations with the government of Iraq, how I should
approach the Kurdish question and above all the question of the Clergy.
General Pakravan, who was a very genteel, learned, considerate and very kind human
being, called two of his deputies to brief me instantly. They did an
excellent job of giving me an overview on our policy and how it would affect
the different aspects of my duty in Baghdad. They impressed me with the
quality of their briefing, their thoroughness and their professionalism.
Before I left, I
asked one more favour from the General and his deputies. I requested that
the Savak representative in Baghdad be informed of our meeting and be advised
that I would be pleased to offer him every assistance but that he should
respects my authority and channel all his requests directly to me rather than
my subordinates. It was obvious to me that I needed to be in control of
all my staff. I was not prepared to allow any discord and unofficial
lines of communication. General Pakravan indicated to his deputies to
inform Major Issa Pejman accordingly. I left them with utmost
gratitude.
Within three
days I was in Baghdad, having driven my own car almost non stop all the way.
My six year old
son Ali and I started early morning from Teheran to avoid the heat of early
summer. The road to the frontier was broad, asphalted, and smooth without
any potholes. I stopped at Kermanshah for some minor repairs to the car and to
have a decent lunch. We drove on within two hours. I cleared
customs and border checks on the Iranian border without hassle.
On the other
side of the border, in Iraq, there was a long line of Persian pilgrims waiting
to go through a lengthy entry procedure. I waited in line, making no
Indication that I carried a diplomatic passport. I did it purposely to
observe how the Iraqis handled my fellow countrymen & women. I did
not like what I saw. It took about one and a half hours to get through
Iraqi controls.
The Iraqis did
not appreciate our presence in their country. The road to frontier ended
on the Iranian side and there was no proper paved road to the Iraqi frontier
post. We passed through an open field. There was no facility at their
side of the border, no washrooms, no toilet, nothing.
All the way to
Baghdad, apart from answering numerous questions of my inquisitive son, I kept
thinking about my reception by Dr. Faridany. When we arrived at the
Embassy I went straight to Dr. Faradany’s office, leaving my son with his
private secretary, Mohammad Ali Tijany.
I entered his
office unannounced. He started with a harsh and loud voice reprimanding
me for being late! However, I had prepared myself for his unfriendly
attitude. He knew me well and as the Persians saying goes, he had thought
he should KILL THE CAT AT THE NUBTIAL CHAMBER or to put me in my place!
However, I was too hot, dusty, dirty, thirsty, and perspiring to listen to his
unbecoming outburst or engage in politics and shouted back saying I had no
intention of dealing with him then and that he should help my young child and I
find suitable accommodation in a hotel. Once this was done he could come
and see me in my office the next day!
He glared at me
squarely from his chair for few moments then got up and with a completely
changed
attitude, came
over embraced me and behaved courteously. He then tried to excuse his
behaviour by saying that since he was in need of help from Teheran he was
anxious to have me sooner. He used the customary Persian language and
gestures. He offered us a room in the Embassy’s Residence, took Ali and me to show
us the way and left us there.
Our Embassy in
Baghdad was constructed during the reign of Reza Shah for the purpose of the
wedding ceremony of the then Crown Prince, Mohammad Reza. The Embassy
consists of four thousand square meter building in the middle of Baghdad with
forty thousand square meters of garden and park around it. Two huge statues of
ancient Sassanids soldiers are standing guard to the entrance. The
remains of our ancient capital, Cetisphone or Tisfoon in Persian, just thirty
Kilometers south of Baghdad, had inspired the architects. The building
was so picturesque that it had become a tourist attraction. The spacious
residence of the Ambassador as well as the big chancellery was in the same
compound. All the rooms and big halls were air-conditioned. It was a
pleasant environment.
Dr. Faridany
realized that the only way to get my cooperation was through friendship not
intimidation; he changed his bossy attitude towards me. Next morning,
with a pleasant manner, he ushered me to my nice and adequately prepared
office, situated at the end of a long corridor adjacent to his own office with
a private door between our two offices. I assured him that I was there to
take some of the burden from his shoulders with not intention of undermining
him. I used the opportunity to ask his assistance to find a furnished
house outside the Embassy compound, a nanny and a tutor for my son.
Within a week, it was all arranged and I moved out of the residence to my own
rented home.
Meanwhile I
occupied myself by going through all diplomatic reports and coded telegrams
from the time of Ambassador Aram (covering his time as well as his protégé) to
that day. What I did not have the time to do in Teheran. The more I
read, the more I was puzzled and astonished. I could see that, everything
sent to the Foreign Ministry was almost contrary to my briefing by Savak.
Our First
Secretary Dr. Parviz Zolein was in-charge of preparing the Weekly Political
Reports. I invited him for a private dinner at my place and enquired
about the falsification of the tangible facts in the reports. He said,
Dr. Faridany kept changing whatever he wrote and the result is what I had
seen. He added that he had kept the original of his reports and I was
welcomed to read them. The same thing was done with the coded telegrams
sent to Teheran.
I arranged for
the transfer of a young upcoming bashful diplomat to Baghdad to supervise the
coding of telegrams. He had served in our Embassy in New Delhi, but
because of a minor error ran foul of the second in command there and was
recalled home with his career in tatters. Upon his arrival, this young
diplomat, Ahmad Moqtaderpour took charge of the coding and started scrutinizing
the outbound telegrams. He was not pleased with the discrepancies he was
observing.
I decided to
hold regular meetings with Dr. Parviz Zolein and Ahmad Moqtaderpour. We
agreed that we needed to restore the quality of our political reporting.
We kept Dr. Faridany out of the picture and in essence set up a parallel
reporting system. I also asked them to collaborate with me with the
purpose of preparing a lengthy paper for the Foreign Office, telling all the
truth without refuting or even mentioning the previous political reports, so
that at the end of my temporary assignment I could personally submit the paper
to the Political Undersecretary, Dr. M.A. Ansari. This was the only way
to let the responsible authorities know the truth of our relation with Iraq.
Dr. Faridany was
senior to me. He had the rank of Minister & my rank was a Councilor.
He was also assured by Aram that he would be the next Ambassador in
Baghdad. Dr. Faridany was terribly ambitious, yet too naïve. For
example, he coveted membership of the Arab Academy. For that reason he
was courting every Tom, Dick & Harry who had anything to do with the Arab
Academy, forgetting that since he was not an Arab, therefore he could not have
possibly been made a member!
Within three
months of my arrival in Baghdad, Dr. Faridany became Ambassador to The Republic
of Iraq. He went to Teheran for presentation to the Shah, and came back
triumphant. Dr. Faridany became bolder
and tried to
persuade the Iraqis to send a high level delegation to Teheran, promising that
it would bolster our relations. This was a big mistake, because of the
web of lies that Aram and Faridany’s had created; the two parties did not know
one another and as a result did not share any common ground. Each had
their own ideas based on lies & deception. I boldly told Dr. Faridany
that, he was either very courageous or stupid to bring the two antagonists
together, when they would discover very quickly and in the worst possible way
that they are in fact far apart. He said, I should not worry; he had made
all the necessary arrangements. I was aghast at his audacity and lack of
foresight.
The Iraqi
Delegation consisted of Major Sobhi Abdol Hamid, Minister of Foreign affairs,
Dr. Abdol Ghader, Minister of Nationalities & some other lesser-known
dignitaries. Little did the good doctor know that his days as an
Ambassador would soon be over. Dr. Faridany accompanied the Iraqi
Delegation to Teheran. In three days, I got a message from my colleagues
in Teheran that the Foreign Office had recalled Dr. Faridany! He would only
be coming back to gather his personal belongings and depart for good. I
kept the news to myself.
The Iranians
bestowed some high decorations to the Iraqis and sent them home, empty handed
& terribly disappointed. Relations between the two neighbours got
worst as a result.
Before I put an
end to Dr. Faridany’s saga in Baghdad I have one last issue to lay down.
An episode that proved to me that in addition to all his shortcomings he was
not honest with money matters either.
Few days after
my arrival, Dr. Faridany took me to Kazemein to meet with Ayatollah
Khalessyzadeh. My family was not a religious one and I had no knowledge of the
clerics. To go through Kazemain to reach to the residence of
Khalessyzadeh, was an experience. The town looked like a fortification;
all over the rooftops were guards with ready rifles. It was somewhat
scary. We arrived to Khalessyzadeh’s residence surrounded by numerous
guards, all armed to the teeth.
When we finally met the Ayatollah, he observed that Dr. Faridany was not
visiting on his own this time and wanted to know who I was. The doctor
introduced me. Khalessyzadeh said: “Nobody in Iran dared do what your
great uncle, Ebrahim Hakimi, Hakim-el-molk did to me. He sent me to exile
in Iraq. All due to the fact that he was not corrupt like
others.” It was then that I recalled that Khalessyzadeh was behind an
uprising in the central city of Yazd against the Government. He was the
predecessor to Khomeinie. Ebrahim Hakimi, ‘the frail old man’ - as his
detractors often described him - was the then Prime Minister of Iran. He
acted very quickly. He put down the uprising and sent Khalessyzadeh into
exile. Khalessyzadeh and I had a good and jovial chat about my grand
uncle.
Before we left,
Dr. Faridany handed over to him an envelope. I presumed that the envelope
must have contained some cash. As it became clear later, this visit to
Khalessyzadeh was a monthly occurrence. But Dr. Faridany said, since
Khalessyzadeh seemed to have had better relations with me, then I should pay
him the regular visit. Each time He gave me a sealed envelope for
Khalessyzadeh. However, what he did not realize was that Khalessyzadeh
being blind would ask me to open the envelopes and count the contents. Each
time there was 250 Iraqi Dinars, equivalent of 250 British pounds. Each
time Khalessyzadeh would say: “Again the fellow pocketed one half the amount”!
On a different
note, each time that I met Khalessyzadeh, he would request that I ask the
Iranian government to send him some arms & ammunition. He said: “I am
planning to teach a lesson to these blasphemous Baath & their communist
supporters!” It made me think the man was out of his mind, how could we
send him arms & ammunition, under the nose of the Iraqi government.
It occurred to me that Khalessyzadeh was quite an adventurous sort. I did
report his plea to Dr. Faridany, but I do not know what, if any thing he did
about it.
I never mentioned Khalessyzadeh’s comments about the shortfall in the monies
to Dr. Faridany. It would have worsened an already tense situation.
However, while he was preparing to leave Baghdad, Dr. Faridany asked me to sign
a receipt I had taken an envelope containing 400 Iraqi Dinars to Khalessyzadeh
six times! I refused and said: “I cannot sign such a false document,
furthermore, apart from the fact each
time Khalessyzadeh asked me to open the envelope, count the contents,
there was only 250 Iraqi Dinars not 400, I do not see any reason to sign this
document which has nothing to do with my duties in Baghdad”. His face became
red. He did not say a word. Next day he left Baghdad for Teheran.
Dr. Faridany was
confused, distraught and in haste to leave Baghdad as soon as he could.
It was unprecedented for the Foreign Office to recall an ambassador within two
months of his appointment. The wretched fellow either forgot, or did not
want to come face to face with Iraqi foreign ministry’s mandarins after the fiasco
of his own making, or had no time to introduce me personally to the Iraqi
foreign ministry. He just sent a note of introduction. That was
good enough for me.
After he left, I
immediately asked Mr. Kazae al-Khalaf, the Iraqi Undersecretary for Political
Affairs for an urgent meeting. We knew one another before, since Dr.
Faridany had sent me to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry on very many
occasions. We met in his office.
After exchanging
the usual diplomatic pleasantries, I did not beat about the bush and said: “WHY
DON’T YOU JUST OCCUPY IRAN & LET THE TWO BROTHERLY NATIONS LIVE ALONG SIDE
BY SIDE HAPPILY EVER AFTER?”
Kazel-al-Khalaf’s
jaw dropped and was completely stunned. He asked if I could repeat what I
had just said. I did repeat what I had just said. He wanted to make
sure that he had not misheard.
He was silent
for a while, and then said “WE CANNOT EVEN DREAM ABOUT ATTACKING IRAN. THIS
WILL BE SUICIDE. WE ARE NO MATCH FOR IRAN IN EVERY ASPECT, BE IT REAL
POLITIK, POPULATION, MILITARY, FINANCIAL, ECONOMICS, INDUSTRY AND VASTNESS OF
THE LAND & SO ON. NO, THIS WOULD BE SUICIDE.”
I asked, then
why do you harass us so much? Why do you have to disturb us every other
day, so that I have to come here almost every day & protest against the
behaviour of your armed personnel? Why do you make the life of our
pilgrims so miserable? Why do you create problems for our shipping in
Shat al-Arab? You harass us at every opportunity and in whatever manner you
possibly can. Why do you have unfriendly attitude towards Iran? Is it by
instigation, or for the benefit and the pleasure of an ex-colonial power? (I
meant the British). You know very well that we have no animosity toward
you, we do not claim one centimeter of Iraqi Land. Our behaviour has been
most civil in response to all the troubles you have been causing us all the
time. What should we do to establish at least civil relations between the
two countries?
Since Mr. Khalaf
was contemplating for the shock of what he just heard and had remained silent,
I continued. To start with normalization of our relations, I will be
truthful with you whatever happens, since I know If I try and deceive you, your
security apparatus (Amn al-Aam) will let you know
And in a matter
of days I would find out if you try and deceive me. In a short while we
would be back where we started. Therefore you will hear only the truth
from me & I expect the same from you. Probably this is the only way
for us to be able to serve our two nations far better than before.
I added, unless your government declares me Persona Non Grata (Undesired
Person), or if my government recalls me for any reason, I am in Baghdad for one
purpose alone, and that is, to try to ameliorate our relation, if I cannot
accomplish my vision, it will be waste of my youth, energy, good will and time.
I rather serve my nation somewhere else.
He was in deep
thought and did not interrupt me while I was talking. After a short while
he came over hugged me and said: “in all my career I never had such an honest
conversation with any diplomat, we shall do exactly as you have
proposed”. He invited me for a cup of thick strong Arab coffee. We
made good friends and Kazel al-Khalaf remained my good and trusted friend until
I left Baghdad for good.
We used to
appear together in public, going to cinemas, clubs, private parties. Some
evenings he used to drop in my place for an honest chat and a drink or
two. Together we accomplished tasks that would not have been possible
without our cooperation.
Sometime after,
while on a short visit to Teheran for private reasons I had gone to the Foreign
Office. In the corridors I ran into one of my very old friends, Homayon
Samiie, who was Political Joint Secretary. He said “ Hashem, I don’t know
what you did but we never had such a successful relations with Iraqis
before. Keep doing whatever you are doing”. That was quite
heartwarming for a young diplomat.
Now an adjunct,
I am sure that the conversation with al-Khalaf was reported to the higher Iraqi
authorities and probably was discussed it in their cabinet. Yet, the same
Iraqis who did not even dream of attacking us, after few years did exactly
that. They knew very well that they would be committing suicide. It
is a matter of record that the Iraqis were encouraged, enticed and assisted by
the US and their collaborators, the old colonial power. The result was a
disaster as Kaze al-Khalaf had concluded years before.
I mentioned
earlier in part two asking my colleagues to prepare a paper for the senior
officials in our foreign office. It was ready running into some 35
pages. With the swift departure of Dr. Faridany I could not go to Teheran
to present the paper. I therefore prepared a covering letter, saying that
Dr. Zolein & Mr. Moqtaderpour had prepared the attached paper with my
supervision and sent in the diplomatic pouch. The paper was an extensive,
direct assessment of almost all the aspects of our relationship with
Iraq. We did not beat around the bush, no lies, no deceptions, no
double-speak, it was what we thought that the relevant authorities, especially,
the Shah who guided our foreign policy, ought to know. We knew very well
that Foreign
Minister did not dare to hush it up. He had to present the report to the
Shah. After the recent fiasco, it was quite a revelation &
refreshing.
Within two days,
I got a personal coded telegram from Mr Aram the Foreign Minister, reprimanding
me for submitting such a report! Moqtaderpour handed over the telegram with a
long face I smiled & asked him to call Dr. Zolein. I read
the contents of the telegram & simultaneously we all started laughing.
I assured them, that nothing is going to happen, since we had done our duty to
our country. We had nothing to fear. The three of us had to prepare
ourselves for the wrath of Mr. Aram. He now had us in his sights and we
had to be very careful with him. That was a hint to Moqtaderpour to be
extra diligent and to make sure there was no repeat performance like that of
New Delhi.
With the first
diplomatic pouch, along came a memo from my old friend Mr. Ahmad Mirfendereski,
the Political Undersecretary acknowledging our efforts. Ahmad and I had
met and become good friends during an earlier assignment in India. He’d
given me the nickname ‘Hashem-e-Barghi’ or Hashem the electrician
because of my hobbies and my hobbies, the letter reads:
Sparkie!! (Hashem-e-Barghi!!)
I
have submitted the request for your promotion to Personnel and made the
recommendation to the board. I hope it will be awarded soon. Your efforts
are appreciated. Keep up the good work till we see what happens.
Mirfendereski
I called in the
two colleagues and showed them the letter. They were happy yet they
realized what kind of a tug of war was going on inside the Foreign Office
(hinted at in the last comment of AM’s memo).
Here I have to
add that, sometime in this period Mr. Ansari had left the Foreign Ministry with
disgust over Aram’s doings. One day he simply did not show up at his
desk. The Foreign Office had appointed Mr. Mirfendereski in his place. I
had lost a good supporter who had sent me to Iraq initially for four months,
but now it seemed that I was going to remain in Baghdad for some time to
come. Needless to say that with Aram as the Foreign Minister, I knew
rough times were ahead.
I followed my brief and laid low as far as the clergy were
concerned. There was not any reason to approach them while Dr. Faridany
was in-charge. My only contact with the Clergy was with Khalessyzadeh.
Now that I was the senior diplomat left in-charge of the embassy, there
was no escape. Few days after I became Charge des Affairs, the embassy’s
accountant, Akbar Ismailnia, approached me to say that Agha Shamseh and some
others want to pay their respect to the new Charge des Affair.
Agha Shamse, as he was called and known by the
Iranians, was the self-appointed chief of Iranian/Shia pilgrim guides (Ziarat
Namehkhans), frequenting the holly Shai shrines of Karbala, Najaf and Kazemein,
guiding the Iranian pilgrims through the pilgrimage (Ziarat) rites. Agha
Shamse was therefore an authority by himself.
One good day, my Private Secretary, Mohamad Ali
Tijany, ushered Agha Shamse and a horde of some ten turbaned characters to my
office. I greeted them with tea, biscuits and some other Persian sweet
meat. Agha Shamse abruptly said: “that you have been in Baghdad about six
months but have not visited the shrines. When will you do so?” I replied, “Agha
Shamse, don’t you know that I am a Bahaie? I rather pay a visit to Haifa”.
Agha Shamseh and the others were aghast. Without
giving them the chance to recover, I immediately added: “I’m a Bahaie, my wife
is a European, and I frequent cinemas and cabarets. Further I have
invited our Consul General in Karbala, Mr. Javad Behnam, to join me tonight in
Abdullah Cabaret. You are all most welcomed to join as my special
guests”. Abdullah Cabaret in Baghdad was a notoriously well-known place
for outrageous shows they put up.
Agha Shamseh with a long face said: “You’re joking,
your mother is in Karbla right now, you have your family’s special burial
ground, now you say, you are a Bahaie!” I told him: “Agha Shamse you are
right, but don’t you see that I am old enough to choose my own faith?”
With that, they had nothing more to say and left my
office with long puzzled faces. Agha Shamse was right. My mother had sneaked into Iraq
without informing me. She knew that I would oppose her visit. But
she had always been a single minded and independent woman. She was an
educated liberal woman and a devout Moslem.
An hour or so passed. Mr. Ismailnia, who was a
religious man and visited the Shrines regularly ever Friday, came to my
office. I saw that he was very much upset. He could not contain
himself and finally asked, if I really was a Bahaie. I replied, no not at
all, but I had to disarm these self-appointed over lookers so that they do not
have the usual weapon of accusing any body that stands on their way by labeling
them as a Bahaie. Now they would not know what to do. Nevertheless,
I asked him to wait a few days & see what is going to happen, and he would
have another surprise.
The clergy working as Pilgrim Guides (Ziarat
Namehkhans) by the virtue of their profession came into contact with all manner
of Iranians. The embassy had to maintain some influence with this group
and a budget was set aside to support them. Regular payments were made to
these parasites (moftkhors). In order to conserve our budget, and to practise
a bit of divide and rule of my own and to put a stop to their incessant
gossiping about myself, I asked Ismailnia to set up a meeitng with Agha Shamseh
in my office, as soon as he can, and nobody should know that he is meeting the
Charge des Affaires. If I came to know that he had boosted about it, I
would have his monthly retainer stopped. If he did not keep his mouth
shut, there would be no money.
Within two days, Agha Shamse was in my office. I
enquired if he had informed any body of his visit to the embassy. He
assured me that he had been silent. Then I called Ismailnia to join our
conversation. I told Agha Shamseh, he should stand alone on the 50
Kilometer road sign on the way to Karbala at 10 am two
days from that day. I would come in a taxi, pick
him up; he should guide me through the holy shrines of Karbala & Najaf and
nobody could find out about this arrangement. I once again reminded him
what would happened if he did not comply fully with my instructions, there
would be no more gratuities from the Iranian government and I hoped it was
clear where he stood.
Two days hence, I was there at the road sign at 10 am sharp. Agha
Shamseh was standing at the side of the road on his own. The area that I
had chosen was open desert, you could see if any thing moved. Agha
Shamseh took me to Karbala and Najaf. Having done the complete tour of
the Shrines I dropped him at the same place where I had picked him up.
Latter on Ismailnia informed me that the other clergy
had mobbed and beaten Agha Shamseh. I had to increase Agha Shasehs salary
as compensation. I had no further problems with the clergy during my
assignment in Baghdad, save one peculiar episode.
One day I received a coded telegram from the ministry,
asking me to arrange a fully-fledged military honor ceremony by the Government
of Iraq for the corps of the deceased General Zahedi, who had just passed away while
serving as our ambassador to the European headquarters of the U.N. in
Geneva. A military transport plane would land in Baghdad within three
days; Ardeshir Zahedi would be accompanying his father’s body. The body
was to be taken for religious rights (Tavaf) to Karbla, Najaf and
Kazemein to prepare him for his final journey.
I thought to myself, this is indeed too much to
ask. General Zahedi had nothing to do with the government of Iraq all his
life. To ask the Iraqis to arrange for full-fledged military honour
ceremony was ridiculous. Yet, I knew that this is going to make or break
me. It was a matter of life or death for my career. All my future
was in stake for such an out of place request.
I paid a visit to my friend, Kazel al-Khalf. I
told him I was going to ask you to do me a personal favour, which could make or
break me. Then I told him the unusual story. Kazel al-Khalaf paused
a bit and told me not to worry, as they would put up such a show that, even I
would be impressed.
And, that is exactly what they did. The plane
landed. Iraqi armed personnel shouldered the coffin with all their
colorful picturesque regalia to the waiting military ambulance. All the
way to Karbala, Najaf & Kazemein, Iraqi solders were standing guard every
50 meters. Ardeshi Zahedi, whom I had never met, was very much impressed
by the show. He asked me, how I’d managed it? I could not give him a proper
reply neither did I try.
I had informed Agha Shamseh of the program instructing
him to be present at the ceremony. The corps was taken first to
Karbala. As part of Islamic burial preparations, they had to open the
sealed coffin and wash the corps Islamic way. Upon opening the coffin,
our burial rites call for the clergy to perform a special death prayer to the
deceased. None of the clergy would step forward and it became obvious to
me that I had something of a political protest on my hands (given the General’s
close relations with Reza Shah and the latter’s disdain for the clergy).
Everybody was waiting. The clergy’s refrain to do their religious duty was outrageous
and could turn the meticulously arranged ceremony into a fiasco ruining me in
the process.
I took Agha Shamseh to a corner
threatening him that if he could not find somebody to do the prayer quickly,
nobody will receive a penny of contribution for as long as I was in-charge of
the embassy. Immediately after our conversation, a turbaned fellow came
forward and said the prayer. A disaster had been averted. Then
& there I asked Ardeshir to reward the fellow lavishly.
The Embassy’s accountant was Mr. Akbar Ismailnia, whom
I had talked about earlier was a religious man frequenting the shrines of
Karbala & Najaf almost every weekend. We had cordial relations since I
never asked him to do any personal favour for me or ever questioned his
accounting. His accounts were impeccable and we never had any problems in this
area. I trusted my accountant without reservation.
One night he called me at home asking if he could come
over to discuss an important affair in person. He then came over to my home and
informed me that he had become quite friendly with a non commissioned officer
of Iraqi security agency (Amn al-Aam). He added that the man being a Shia
Moslem felt some loyalty to Iran and wished to help us in any way he could.
The man worked in the section responsible for liaison between Iraqi Prime
Minister’s Office and the Amn al-Aam. He therefore had access to all the
correspondence between the two offices.
Mr. Ismailnia suggested that we should pay the man a
small token of 30 Iraqi Dinars (almost 30 English Pounds) a month to show our
appreciation. Ismailnia was seeking my permission and approval as go between as
well as starting the intrigue.
I informed him, that it would fine with me to try him
for a month; if the information supplied was worth anything then we would carry
on. I gave the following instructions to Ismailnia:
I have always been a keen amateur photographer and
cinematographer. I always carry some sort of photographic equipment
wherever I am. Nevertheless, this affair needed special spy equipment. Therefore,
I went to the Baghdad branch of a company called Hassu. Hassu represented
Kodak as well as many other electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers
in the Middle East. I was a good customer of theirs in Teheran. I was
surprised to find that I did not need to introduce myself as the manager
apparently knew who I was! I placed and order for a German made Minox camera
with all its accessories, developing, printing etc. not forgetting an adequate
supply of black & white films. He asked for a few days to acquire my order.
After a week, I had everything needed for doing a proper spying job.
Every so often Mr. Ismailnia would come with the
documents; I would take the pictures with the Minox camera in few seconds & sent him back. I
had already set up a make-shift dark room at home. I would develop the films
and make several prints. My private Secretary, M.A. Tijani, was in charge
of
translating the Arabic text to Persian. He was puzzled but preferred not to
ask any questions about the origin of the documents. Mr. Nasser Keshvari was my
trusted Persian typist. He would type the translations. He also did not ask any
questions.
I would then send the films, the pictures, and the
Persian translations with a hand written covering letter to Gholam Abbas Aram,
the Foreign Minister. I did not disclose the source of my information to the
Minister either. Given our previous experience I dared not trust him to reveal
the source of the information. Since the Shah was as the head of state and he
was formally responsible for our country’s foreign policy, the Minister had no
choice but to take my hand written letter addressed to him and the attachments
to the Shah himself. With the result that our head of state knew well
what was going on in the Iraqi Cabinet concerning our country. I did not
know what was being discussed or what action resulted form the intelligence I
supplied until I met General Hassan Pakravan on short visit to Teheran to
attend to my personal affairs. While in Tehran, I asked General Pakravan for a
meeting to update my Savak briefing. However, the General instead invited me
for lunch in a restaurant off Roosevelt Avenue which I had not heard of before
and was perhaps chosen for being off the beaten track.
During lunch he told me among other subjects that His
Majesty had said something about me that he was not very comfortable to reveal
to me. I replied that whatever his Majesty had said about me I was most eager
to know. General said that, His Majesty was giving your reports to me for
verification. Your reports were all confirmed. One day His Majesty said “Hassan
see what this young rookie (Yek Alef Bacheh ) is doing?” His Majesty had
added that “I have inquired; he does not even charge the government a penny for
what he is doing. Yet your men, with their colossal budget at their disposal,
cannot match him “Be Gardeh Ham Nemiresand”. I thanked the General, but
asked why were you not comfortable telling me this? The General replied:
“because of the young rookie (Yek Alef Bacheh)”. Being an
extremely polite and deferential man, he had thought I would be hurt being
called ‘Alef Bacheh’. I said, His Majesty was right, after all, I am the
youngest head of one of his missions abroad and proud of what His Majesty has
said about me.
D.1. Major Pejman Episode
Major Eesa
Pejman was the Savak agent in the Embassy and was introduced to Iraqi
authorities as a Deputy Military Attaché. I never trusted the Major. He had a
dubious character behaving in a detestable manner. We never had any
clashes, since he had been ordered to cooperate with me.
Once among
the documents I received from our mole, there was a hand written message
revealing that starting from a given date, Major Pejman was to come under
surveillance by Amn al-Aam agents for 15 days. Their purpose was to determine
whether Major Pejman was meeting with CIA Agents stationed in the American
Embassy in Baghdad.
They were going
to follow him with a motor cycle and a military Jeep. The registration
number for each vehicle was also mentioned. Before sending the usual
report of our mole’s intelligence material to Teheran, I summoned Major Pejman
to my office informing him about what was being planned by the Iraqis.
Major Pejman
asked me to reveal the source of my Information, which I declined. He
then said “you are putting an obstructing me in my duty and you’re therefore a
traitor – Khaen in Persian. I replied traitor or not, it
was my duty as the head of our mission to inform him and dismissed him without
further ado. I included this conversation in my report to Teheran.
On the day that
Major Pejman was supposed to be followed, I went to the street and saw the
Iraqi agents’ motorcycle & Jeep with the specified number plates were
parked at the corner of the street outside the Embassy and a wide avenue
running along the wall at the far end opposite the compound. I called
Ishagh my trusted driver and asked him to get the entire supply of empty wooden
beverage boxes from the cellars & quickly construct a make shift platform
by placing the boxes upside down about 1.5 meters inside the
embassy’s walls on the corner overlooking both avenues. The reason for
making the platform was that the embassy had brick walls of 1.40 meters with an
iron grid half as high on top of the bricks. Since I am not a tall person
I had to improvise a way to be able to use my camera.
Although I could
see he was clearly puzzled Ishagh did not question me. I told him after
he had finished the job I would like to inspect it. I pointed out that
nobody should know about this arrangement.
Then I called
the gatekeeper’s hut outside the Embassy’s public enterance asking him to stay
put at his post. He was not to leave his post even if bitten by a snake! In
addition, the moment Major Pejman left the office he should signal it by
rushing to my office, opening the door & looking at me without uttering a
word. At about 2 PM, the gatekeeper did exactly what I had asked for. My office
had access to the Embassy’s gardens and I rushed out of it just in time to take
some twenty rapid shots of Pejman, the motorcycle and the Jeep following one
another outside on the street.
With the next
weekly report, I included three copies of the photographs. Within three
days, Major Pejman was summoned urgently to Teheran. He came back after a few
days and rushed to my office looking devastated and he face was red with
perspiration. He put one copy of the bunch of 20 Photographs in front of me asking
if I knew who had taken them. I ignored his question and said: “dear Major
Pejman is not it indeed interesting photographs, I can sea the motorcycle and
the Jeep, which I had informed you. Now who is the traitor?”
D.2.
The Naval base in Basrah
I was curious to
know learn about the Iraqi Navy as they had been a major headache harassing
shipping on the river running along our border. I felt it important to
understand as much as possible about their bases in Basrah. I decided
that under the guise of paying a visit to our Consulate General in Basrah to
take a look at their bases there . My very good friend Jahangir Jahandari
was the Consul General over there.
I informed him
of my visit a
few days in advance. He was a patriotic, dedicated diplomat and a very pleasant
man. I asked him to make arrangements for the two of us as well as our spouses
to go for a day out on a motor boat. We packed our picnic lunch for the
pleasure of going up and down the Shat al-Arab.
I had come
prepared with my Minox camera hoping to take some good photographs of the Iraqi
Naval installations as well as their gun boats. Neither my friend nor the boat
skipper could see what I was doing. I made two roles of films of every thing
that I thought was interesting for our Naval Officers to know. As usual
the photographs along with my report went by the Diplomatic Pouch to Tehran.
There was no
response from any where. As if it was usual for a Charge des Affairs to send
such photographs and report regularly. Years afterwards, while posted as
Consul General in Rome, a very handsome dashing young Iranian Naval Officer
entered to my office, saluted me in the full military style and stood to
attention! I was surprised and did not have a clue as to what this Navy Officer
wanted. He read the expression on my face and said: “Mr. Hakimi, you do
not know me but I know you very well and for years I was yearning to meet you
in person, till I was informed by my colleagues in the Italian Naval
Institute that you are in Rome. I came to meet you and thank you in person for
the photographs and report concerning the Iraqi Naval Force.”
He explained
that he was the Chief of the Section Two (i.e. Military Intelligence) Naval
Contingent in Khorramshahr. My report and photographs were sent to
him for assessment In his words: “I was amazed to see the clear sharp
photographs and your report which had boosted our intelligence on this subject.
Therefore I was very much curious to find out the civilian gentleman who was so
daring to have prepared such a report. I am very happy to have met you.”
Naturally I was
very much amused by this surprise visit. It was very satisfying to
finally learn that my effort had not gone without appreciation.
E.
Discord & chaos in the Iraqi Cabinet
Mr. Javad
Shalash was Chief of Protocol in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. He was known among
the resident Diplomats as an unpleasant man. I personally disliked him for his
brutish attitude. One day Javad Shalash who was earlier assigned to their
embassy in Tehran and spoke fairly well Persian summoned me to his office.
Upon my arrival
He immediately announced that two of our very junior Consular staff of our
Consulate General in Bassrah were undesirable persons (persona non grata) and
should leave the country as soon as possible preferably within 48 hours! I
could not believe my ears! I asked him to repeat what he’d just said to make
sure there was no mistake on my part. This was a grave new development in the
two countries’ relationship. It would have created a very ugly precedence
and irreparable damage.
I had to think
on my feet so I told him that the decision of the Iraqi Government to expel our
consular staff would create a new chapter in our relations with very ugly
consequences. I continued that there was no need to take such a drastic
decision since the assignment of both people concerned would have terminated in
two weeks and in any event they would be leaving Basrah. This way your task was
accomplished & the relation between the two countries would not be harmed.
Of course, I had
tricked Mr. Shalash, since what I told him about the assignment of the two
junior officers coming to an end in a fortnight was contrary to the truth. My
purpose was to buy time in order for our government to decide how to react. Mr.
Shalash believed me and agreed to wait 15 days. I immediately sent a
coded telegram to Tehran saying: “I have been informed by a very reliable
source that within 15 days that two of our junior staff in our Consulate
General in Basrah will be declared non desirable persons and would then be
given 48 hours to leave the territory of Iraq.”
It is obvious
that nothing happened to the two junior officers within the time limit of 15
days. On the 15th.day the Chief of Protocol called me to his office to
say that since the two officers had not left therefore the Government of Iraq
was declaring them Undesirable Persons & they would have to leave the
territory of Iraq within 48 hours. I again pleaded with him to use his good
offices & reconsider this unprecedented action, which eventually will harm
Iraq more than Iran. My plea fell onto deaf ears.
I immediately
referred the matter as before to Teheran by coded telegram. Within two
hours I got a reply that I have to approach the Foreign Ministry of Iraq &
officially declare that the Consul General of Iraq & his Deputy in
Khorramshahr were Undesirable Persons & would have to leave the Iranian
Territory in 24 hours.
I called Mr.
Shalash & asked for an urgent meeting. I took the telegram with me &
read its content for him. His face became red & said: “Is this reciprocity
or revenge? Why so fast?”
I replied that I
had no idea whether it was reciprocity, but I had warned him that they had
started something that neither of us could now predict the turn of events. I
left him perplexed & quite speechless. It happened that the night
after this episode, General Mohamad Aaref, the then President of Iraq was
throwing a gala in honour of Mr. Sekotoreh visiting President of Ghana. The
entire diplomatic corps in Baghdad were invited to this gala.
I was chatting
with my colleagues from the other Embassies when suddenly Major Abdul
Hamid, the Iraqi Foreign Minister approached & took me away from others.
He said: “your Government has created a bad precedence in the relations between
our two countries by declaring our Consul General in Khorramshahr & his
deputy undesirable persons.”
I immediately
sensed that the Foreign Minister did not know what his underlings were up to,
therefore I interrupted him saying “I am sorry Your Excellency but I have to
correct you as it was your Government which initiated this bad precedent &
I quite agree with you that it should have never happened.”
I could see in
his face that Major Abdul Hamid was puzzled then I told him the full story. He
was visibly shaken. He begged me not to move from there and stay in the same
spot for a few minutes until he could come back for me. Major Abdul Hamid, the
Foreign Minister of Iraq came back within 5 minutes & told me: ”Mr. Hakimi,
I personally apologize for this incident. I take back the words of my Chief of
Protocol. The two Iranian diplomats will remain as long as they wish & I
hope your government reciprocates. We are not going to publish any news about
this ugly affair & I beg the Iranian Government do the same.”
Needless to say
I was overjoyed. I immediately returned to the Embassy. I called my
colleagues Parviz Zolein & Ahmad Moghtaderepour to come to the Embassy at once
for an urgent meeting. They came & I told them of my conversation with the
Iraqi Foreign Minister.
We prepared a
full report as a coded telegram giving all the details of what had happened,
interjecting that I would do my best to know who was responsible for the bad
episode. However, one thing was obvious, and that is that there was discord
& chaos in the Iraqi Cabinet.
Later on I came
to know that the Iraqi Prime Minister had acted independently through his Chief
of Protocol without informing or consulting his own Foreign Minister!
Years afterwards, when I met my dearest friend Mr. Ahmad Mir Fenderesky
who was Deputy Foreign Minister at the time, and since Aram was away, he was
the acting FM and had to present my first telegrams to His Majesty the Shah.
The Shah had said: “This is a top secret of the Iraqi government. How could our
charge in Baghdad have known it? But since he’s been doing so many
unconventional things, he could well be right. You should prepare yourself
immediately for prompt & immediate reciprocal action, if indeed such a
thing takes place.” It was because of the Shah’s instruction that I had
received Ministry’s response within two hours.
F. Relations with the Foreign Office and
Secretary Of State Aram
It was unfortunate for me to have replaced a man who
became my immediate boss during two years of my assignment in Baghdad.
Apart from the fact that I had sent political assessments and diplomatic
reports that were contrary to his reports, my weekly hand written reports of
the intelligence gleaned from our mole in the Iraqi Intelligence were putting
him in an awkward position with the Shah. It is therefore natural for the man
to hate me for what I was doing. In addition, it was also natural for some of
the department chiefs to reflect the displeasure of the Foreign Minister.
Parviz Sepahbody, who was one of my best schoolmates,
was the chief of the Personnel Department at that time. He went so far to
ingratiate himself with Aram that he forgot our very old friendship.
Nasser Keshvary my trusted Persian typist once came to me saying that his
father was in his deathbed. He needed to visit Teheran as soon as possible. I
sent a telegram to the Foreign Ministry asking for a week’s leave so that he
could attend to his dying father.
I have to add that Aram liked and respected Nasser
Keshvary while he was Ambassador in Baghdad yet after two days I received a
negative reply to my request. The telegram was signed by Parviz Sepahboudy. As
the head of Personnel, Parviz Sepahboudy should have known the internal
ministry procedures, rules & regulations better than anyone, had knowingly
overstepped his mandate. Moreover he had no right or authority to write
an official letter or send a telegram with his own signature to the Embassies
or any Head of Mission. Only the Joint Secretaries, the Under Secretaries &
the Foreign Minister had the right to sign any letter or telegram sent to the
Heads of Missions abroad.
As well as knowing my duty and responsibilities, I was
well aware of the extent of my authority. Therefore using my own authority I
sent a telegram direct to the Foreign Minister explaining the grave situation
of Mr. Nasser Keshvary and that I have instructed Mr. Nasser Keshvary to fly to
Teheran to adjust some discrepancy in the Embassy’s account with the Accounting
Department! I asked the Foreign Minister to order the Personnel Department to
issue a relevant order in that effect and instruct the Accounting Department to
pay Mr. Keshvary’s travel expenses as well as his extra ordinary allowance for
being out of his place of duty. I also wrote to the Foreign Minister to advise
his chief of Personnet that he has overstepped his mandate by sending a
telegram to this embassy with his own signature that is against the rules &
regulations of the Foreign Ministry. I added that the Personnel Chief can
afford to play this kind of games with privileged persons assigned to Paris,
London, Washington etc, and to treat us, the ‘honorable prisoners under siege’
with deference. With that I sent Nasser Keshvary to Tehran for a week of
special assignment. I received no reply in response to my harsh telegram,
because I had acted according to my mandate as a head of a mission abroad
despite its harshness. Furthermore they could not harm Mr Kehsavie
as he had written instructions from the head of him mission.
This is just an example to show how my own superiors
treated me and the internal politics of the time. It is necessary to mention
that along the way the Iraqi Government had restricted all our movements within
Iraq to the greater Baghdad and we were required to seek permission from their
Foreign Office to visit our Consulate Generals in Karbala or Basrah. The
Iranian Government had reciprocated the Iraqi decision & had restricted the
movement of Iraqi diplomats in Iran. That is why I wrote in my telegram
‘honourable prisoners’
The above telegram put an end to what little I had
with the Foreign Secretary in the way of a working relationship. Yet the
minister could not touch me because he would have a difficult time to explain
my removal to the Shah as it will become apparent later. The only way for Aram
to get rid of me was to appoint an Ambassador which he could not do by himself.
It was only the Shah who could appoint an Ambassador to such important post as
Baghdad. The Minister had no courage even to hint about the appointment of an
Ambassador in Baghdad. However, according to Murphy’s Law, whatever can
go wrong, will go wrong.
After a year and a half as an independent Charge
Des Affaires in Baghdad, I received news that Dr. Seyed Mehdi Pirasteh,
ex-Governor of Fars
Province & ex-Interior Minister was appointed as
Ambassador to Baghdad.
At the same time I got a rare letter from my father
warning that I should be careful with the man since he is rather load mouthed
& not always polite. After a few days the new Ambassador arrived. He was received cordially by the staff of
the Embassy as well as Iraqi Government and the usual formalities were dully
observed.
The Ambassador’s residence and his office were ready
for the new Ambassador to occupy. Dr. Pirasteh came to office for an inspection
and acquainted himself with the staff.
I provided the usual briefing about the workings of the office &
political developments in Iraq.
The first thing he did was to call the representative
of Savak, Lieutenant Colonel Pejman, who recently had got his promotion, to his
office. He took out a stack of papers
from his portfolio and said that it contained the speech he had prepared to
deliver at the ceremonial occasion of presentation of his credentials to
General Mohamed Aaref the then President of Iraq. It was a lengthy speech & in one point he referred to the
existence of a large Shia community in Iraq that makes the relationship between
two countries so special!
At this point I intervened to indicate that the
reference to the Shia community in Iraq was too sensitive an issue to mention
at this occasion, it would create a fiasco & bring irreparable damage to
our very delicate relations with Iraq.
The Ambassador replied that His Majesty (Mohammad Reza Shah) had told
him the same (presumably when he had attended court to receive his appointment
by the shah).
I added that even if His Majesty had highlighted this
very sensitive subject, he would not have meant for it to be included into your
ceremonial presentation speech as it is traditionally very brief and limited to
diplomatic pleasantries. If he wanted
to discuss this subject either he would have to arrange another meeting with
the head of Iraqi state or if urgent, after presenting his credentials, to
raise it during the informal chat which usually follows the ceremony when the
President invites the new appointee to sit down for an informal chat & some
beverages. Only then he may discuss
this point in a very friendly way avoiding any possibility of misinterpretation.
The Ambassador was persistent and would not accept my
advice. He boasted: “I have dealt with a lot of colonels such as
this one”. By this time I was mad and
reckless enough to retort: “Yes Mr. Ambassador, but this one is a head of
state.” Colonel Pejman was sheepishly
supporting the Ambassador.
Needless to say, I could well see the disastrous
consequences of such a speech. At the Ceremony, against the tradition that
ambassadors take with them only the big envelope containing their credential,
our Ambassador took his briefcase inside the official hall. I again pointed to
the Ambassador that he should have left his briefcase out in the reception
room, but he stubbornly refused to take my advice and did as he wished.
The Ambassador, Colonel Masoumi, the Military Attaché, M.A. Tijani our
translator and I, entered the presidential ceremonial hall. General Aref was
standing in the middle along with his Chief of Protocol as well as Sobhi Abdol
Hamid, the Foreign Minister. President Aref shook hand with all of us &
then Dr. Pirasteh took out his stack of Papers & started reading it.
Suddenly President Aref pointed out that it seems that the Ambassador has
forgotten some thing!
It was only then that Dr. Pirasteh realized that first
he had to submit his credentials. The ambassador went back to his brief case,
took out his credentials & handed it over to the President, which the
president handed it to his chief of protocol told him that he should teach some
necessary protocol to the Ambassador!
Then Dr. Pirasteh started again to read that lengthy
speech. President Aref looked impatient. When the Ambassador referred to the
Shia community, President Aref left the hall abruptly without a word with a
look of digust on his face. I was astonished and angry, since all my efforts to
date to bring about some sort of a good relationship between the two
neighboring countries suddenly evaporated.
Pirasteh got angry too for being ignored and started
protesting. The Chief of Protocol as well as the Foreign Minister ushered us
back to the reception hall and tried to calm the Ambassador down. But Dr.
Pirasteh was loudly insisting that the President of the Republic of Iraq should
apologize for ignoring the Ambassador and leaving the ceremonial hall. I told
him that what he was asking was impossible since no head of state apologizes to
any body including Ambassadors. I asked him to calm down and accept the apology
of the President’s Chief of Protocol as well as the Foreign Minister. I added otherwise he would not be granted
any meetings with Iraqi dignitaries. Dr. Pirasteh did not listen and we left the
presidential palace in disgrace as I had tried to warn him.
Dr.
Pirasteh, as if nothing had happened, started
visiting other ambassadors. But his requests to meet any Iraqi Minister or
dignitary were unanswered. The result was that after 15 days he left Baghdad
taking the Embassy’s car to Teheran.
In the two weeks that he was in Baghdad he met with CIA personnel of the
American Embassy in Baghdad quite often. Some thing that I had avoided, due to
the fact that I knew very well that contacting the CIA personnel would have
created unnecessary friction with the suspicious Iraqis who were afraid of
their own shadows. Moreover I did not
need their advice for the simple reason that our policies in Iraq differed from
one another. Also I had my other means to know what was going on in the
American Embassy.
The fact was that the private secretary of the
American Ambassador was my girlfriend, visiting me in my home few times per
week. Since I didn’t live in the
Ambassadors residence or the compound,
she could come & go with a taxi without creating suspicion. She was a chatterbox, over drinks &
dinner and what came afterwards, she revealed to me what she knew. That was
more than what anyone could ask for. Lieutenant Colonel Pejman was very much
responsible for introducing our new inexperienced Ambassador to CIA personnel
in Iraq. That was also against my
advice to the Ambassador. But Dr.
Pirasteh would not listen and seemed to only have ears for Savak’s
representative.
It took me seven months with the help of Turkish &
Pakistani Ambassadors to convince the Iraqis to receive Dr. Pirasteh. To arrange his return to Baghdad, I
requested our Foreign Minister to call me to Teheran to explain the latest
developments. In Teheran, I met with my dear friend & mentor, Ahmad
Mirfenderesky who was Political Undersecretary and since Gholam Abbas Aram the
Foreign Minister was away He was acting Minister. I briefed him about what had happened in detail, right from the
beginning to the present situation. The
Iraqi position was that they would receive the Ambassador provided he behaved
as an Ambassador.
Ahmad Mirfendresky asked me to accompany him to an
audience with Mohammad Reza Shah, which I refused due to the fact that I was
sure that the Shah, being a shrewd person, would have asked questions that I
was reluctant to answer. I suggested that I am prepared to write what I had
just said, so that he can hand it over to the Shah. I added that I would not
sign the report either. Ahmad Mirfenderesky asked me to wait for him in his
office. He immediately took my report to His Majesty returning within an hour.
His Majesty had advised that I had to catch the first plane back to Baghdad
wait to receive the Ambassador within a few days.
I
pleaded with Ahmad, that after the arrival of the
Ambassador I should be called back, since it is obvious that we cannot work
under the same roof from then on. Ahmad promised to arrange for my transfer
either to another assignment or back to Tehran. Unfortunately that promises
could not materialize owing to the fact that after a short while he fell out of
grace with Mohammad Reza Shah (he had allowed additional Russian flights over
Iran to assist Egypt in the Six Day War to that agreed by the Shah on his own
initiative) and was sent home. Consequently
with the loss of my only friendly ally Ahmad Mirfenderesky, Aram as a Foreign Minister and Dr Pirasteh
as my immediate boss, I knew that I would have a rough ride ahead. I do not know what reprimands or
instructions Dr. Pirasteh had received from Mohammad Reza Shah, but he was as docile as he could
manage after his return.
Upon his return, Dr. Pirasteh told
me, since he has more important tasks, he had no time to look after the office
and that I was to carry on as before. That came as a relief. The despatches to
Teheran were prepared as usual and the Ambassador merely glanced and signed the
letters as well as political reports that were routinely prepared by our staff
in consultation with Dr Zolein and me.
Dr. Pirasteh was most of the time
busy with Colonel Pejman and CIA field officers.
He frequented Karbala & Najaf meeting every Aakhoond. What he
discussed with the clergies I never wanted to know, since it was completely
contrary to the briefings I had received.
But one day he called me to his
office where Colonel Pejman was now a permanent fixture and started a lengthy
discussion about the presence of too many Iranian subjects (and Iraqis of
Iranian descent) in
He added that with the help of
Colonel Pejman they have prepared a special form that was getting printed in
thousands. Our Consulate Generals in
Colonel Pejaman was in a triumphant
mood and backed this magnificent unique idea of the Ambassador! I was astonished
and as usual could not hold back. I
told the Ambassador my observations about his plan.
What he completely failed to
appreciate was that the existence of very large Iranian community in
Dr. Pirasteh replied that every thing
was arranged. They were going to stay in barracks he had constructed for the
destitute some time ago! The Ministry of Labour had promised to find them jobs.
Ministry of Education would provide hem with adequate schools. There would not
be a problem.
Knowing our government’s
limitations and capabilities, this was too utopian for me to accept. I believed
that this was nothing more other than chasing a mirage. I pressed the Ambassador
whether he had informed the authorities that they would have to deal with
hundreds of thousands of men, women & children? Or were they thinking it
would be a question of few hundreds? This was indeed a Pandora’s box; till it
wasn’t opened one would never know what was in it.
I was sure that the Embassy & our consulate Generals would eventually
land up with an irreversible disaster.
Our argument went on for some time.
The Ambassador and his newly found crony was not prepared to listen to
logic. At the end, I was exasperated & told both of them bluntly that in my
opinion this plan played into the hand of Iraqis therefore I would take it as
betrayal to our country and people. Moreover I was not going to take part in his
plan and would refuse to put my signature under any document concerning
implementation of this plan.
Dr. Pirastheh did not utter a word
but he and Colonel Pejman proceeded to implement the plan. They had the forms
printed and distributed among the Iranian community by our Consulate Generals.
Busloads of Iranians were sent back to
In protest some of the Returnees came
to
Indeed some of them who had relatives
in
B.1.
The Case of Un-murdered Persian Woman!
One day my secretary ushered three
men to my office. They introduced themselves as representatives of the private
Iran Insurance Company. One of the men was a citizen of
The Suisse said “My Company in
I interrupted him and said before you
go on I have few simple questions to ask:
1. Who was this woman that was worth
one hundred thousand U.S Dollars? Was she a
2. Why insure some body in U.S
Dollars in a country that has no foreign exchange restrictions?
I knew the answer to the last
question, that was if they had insured the woman in Persian currency, it would
have been about 7.5 million Rials and probably it would have caused suspicion.
But the figure of one hundred thousand, seemed rather innocent to the eyes of
the company’s evaluators.
The Suisse looked at me squarely
& said without hesitation: “I would like to offer you the job of managing
director which comes with a ten thousand Suisse Franc salary & yearly
bonuses, just because you asked these questions that these people did not bother
even to think about it”
I thanked the Suisse gentleman but
refused his offer & asked him to carry on. He continued to say, that the
brothers had paid the monthly premium for three months. Then they had taken
their sister for pilgrimage to Karbla & Najaf. The woman according to the
medical certificate had died of acute diarrhoea & had been buried there. The
Iranian Consulate General had officially issued the death certificate for the
woman on the bases of the certificate of a local physician. If the brothers were
not in hurry to receive the money, the case would have gone unnoticed. It was
only because of their hast that suspicion had risen which is why they had come
to investigate.
I said, first of all the act of
insuring an uneducated Iranian for that amount is tantamount to issuing the
warrant for her execution. This oversight by itself is a criminal act, and the
Iran Insurance Company should be charged for corporate negligence or
manslaughter in the least. Secondly I did not think the brothers had murdered
their sister, as this would have been too unsavoury for people from down town
Teheran. The traditional family bonds prevent such brutality.
I think the woman is alive but hidden some where in
Without further ado I called my very
best friend & colleague Javad Behnam who was our Consul General in
I
asked Javad, to see if they had issued a death certificate for the woman about
few months back. After few minutes his response was affirmative. I told him to
listen carefully and put down what I was about to instruct. I asked Javad to
send an urgent telegram to the Foreign Ministry with the request that due to
some discrepancy the death certificate issued to that woman is suspended till
further investigation. Javad was a bit hesitant. I assured him that the
suspension of any certificate or official document is not hazardous to his
career. I also informed him that I was going to pursue this mystery in
I told the three gentlemen that as
far as the Insurance Company was concerned since the death certificate was being
suspended, for the time being, they were under no obligation to pay the claim.
With that I said good bye to my visitors and saw them off in complete
bewilderment.
Before
leaving the Suisse man again tried to offer me the job of managing director but
this time increased his offer to fifteen thousand Suisse Francs, which I
declined again. After few days I met with the Joint Secretary of Consular
Affairs of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. I knew the man since we have had numerous
meetings regarding the status of the Persian citizens in
At about two weeks later the
exhumation took place, we received the report of the forensic expert, who had
found that the corpse belonged to an elderly woman not a young one who had died
of natural causes. Accordingly an official medical examination document was
signed & sealed by the relevant Iraqi authorities as well as our Consul
General in Karbla. I then asked Javad Behnam to send a covering letter on the
forensic certificate to
The brothers had facilitated the
procedure by making a proper tomb stone with engraved the name, the birth date
& the supposed date of their sister passing away. They had looked after
every detail to make it look natural and genuine. But the care they had taken
made it easy to recognise the grave. The brothers were charged with the murder
of their sister (as she was missing) and with criminal intent to defraud the
Insurance Company. Later when
the sister was found the charges were reduced to fraud and falsification of
government certificates.
B.2.
The Darbandi Khan Dam
On one occasion that I had gone to
Teheran for consultation, I ran into an old colleague from
Zelli was pleased to meet me. He took
me to his office and said that in two days time there was to be a meeting in his
office with various Governmental representatives to discuss compensation from
Iraq for the Persian lands which were submerged under water after completion of
Darbandi-Khan dam that Iraqis had constructed on a river called, Ganjan Cham,
near the Iranian frontier of our Kurdistan province. He added that, as our
Charge in
I was there at the meeting a bit
before others to get myself acquainted with the work at hand and be introduced
to the participants. They were representatives of Interior and Agriculture
ministries, the Frontier Guard (Marzbany), the Second Department of Army
General Staff, the representative of the National Intelligence & Security (SAVAK)
Department and other government departments’ representatives.
I knew only two of the participants,
General Rahimy of the Army and General Maassomi of the Frontier Guard.
Mr. Zelli, introduced me to the participants as he had proposed two days
earlier, and opened the meeting with a brief history of the case.
One by one the participants talked
about the ways and means of making Iraqi Government compensate for the submerged
land. Savak representative was just
listening and did not utter a word. When every body had their say, I asked my
friend, if I could say a few words and addressed the gathering as follows:
“ If we ask the Iraqi government
for compensation & if they agree, we would inadvertently make them the owner
of our submerged land, which was in contravention of the seventh clause of the
amendment to our Constitutional Law which clearly stated that the Frontiers of
Iran, its provinces, districts & villages, can not be altered, save by
decree of the law.”
“Therefore we cannot claim
compensation from
“The question of compensation to
the Iranian land lords should be taken care of by the Iranian Government. As you
are aware any piece of immovable property inside the Iranian territory has got
two owners, a visible as well as invisible one. The visible owner is the person
who holds the officially issued the deed of the property; the invisible one is
the Iranian Government who, according to the laws, has exclusive right to issue
a permit to the visible one to sell his land to a foreigner. Therefore the
Iranian Government would compensate the visible Iranian owners of the land whose
property is submerged, either by cash or by exchange with State lands or any
other manner to the satisfaction of the two parties.”
I finished my longwinded lecture by
excusing myself saying I had to leave the meeting owing to another engagement. I
added that if I remain as a Charge in
Next day Mr. Zelli intercepted me in
the corridors of the Ministry. He said that it had been the right decision to
ask me to participate in that meeting, since it was obvious that they were all
off the mark and the result could have been a disaster. Then he asked, how did I
know the exact clause of our constitutional law?
I replied, but that was exactly our bread & butter.
I left
B.3.
Locked Frontier Gate
Long before I was assigned to
For some time I was receiving
disheartening reports of maltreatment of our subjects including the ones who
carried a recommendation by the Embassy to pass the frontier without delay. The
reports became quite frequent so much so that I decided to pay a visit to
Khosrovi to find out what was going on at our frontier.
One day I asked my trusted driver to
make the huge air-conditioned official Cadillac ready for a long trip. I told
him that no body should know about the trip.
I got into the car and asked the driver to take the root out of
We passed Khaneghien, the Iraqi
frontier post and drove towards Khosrovi. There to my astonishment the huge
From afar I saw a man in his
underwear with a pitcher in hand coming towards the pond. I started shouting
ordering him to come forward and open the gate. The man seeing the big car with
the Persian flag hoisted on it came running. I was terribly angry. I shouted at
the top of my voice enquiring the reason the gate was locked, by whose authority
and for how long. The man answered
that the gate was locked every day from
Within few minutes the gate was
opened I walked to the Iranian side with the Embassy’s car following me. At
the pond some people were gathered all of them in their pyjamas or other very
informal but shameful attire for the officials of a country at the border.
I asked: “Are not you supposed to
be at the disposal of The Embassy in
Suddenly one the men with the same
kind of attire which made it impossible to know who he was said that He was the
Capitan, Chief of the Frontiers Guard. He
had ordered that the gate to be locked. He added that “You have insulted me
the representative of the Shahanshah”. At
this point I interrupted him and shouted in rage: “Yes you are right I have
insulted the Shahanshah for telling you that you have no authority to shut the
gate to our country? Is this right? More over I have received reports that some
irregular especial privilege is granted to one of my subordinates in
.
Few of them started nodding with one
another, pulled the Capitan away and advised caution. Addressing the Captain I
said the day that an officer could hide his guilt behind that kind of a pretext
was over. Since I have insulted His Majesty I shall see to it that you be
transferred to either Khash or Saravan. I asked if he knew where Khash or
Saravan were. The I informed that the tow wildernesses are in Baluchestan on our
border with
Back in
One may ask why I had not driven
straight to Khosrovi? The reason was that not all the staff could be trusted. I
was sure that if they came to know that I am going to inspect the Frontier they
would have called Khosrovi and would had waned them. I
was right in my assessment, since next day one of the Embassy’s Attachments
came to my office enquiring whether I had been to the border the day before.
I replied with just a nod, with a gesture showing my displeasure. I asked
myself the question. How had he come to know my whereabouts the day before and
it was obvious that he had been contacted from Khosrovi.
After the departure of my dear friend
and mentor Ahmad Mirfenderesky as our Ambassador to
The last straw came when Dr. Pirasteh
using information about my personal life supplied by Colonel Pejman against me. The
information was baseless and in the end he was visibly ashamed and apologised
profusely. But things had come to a
head and I lost my cool telling him bluntly that I did not want to remain in
I then sent a telegram to the Foreign
Minister using very harsh, direct and abusive language asking for leave. I do
not think such language has ever been used in the Foreign Office before or
since. I threatened that if he were
to refuse I would fly to Teheran without delay to take up my request direct to
His Majesty. Meanwhile I did not show up in the Embassy and started preparations
to leave as soon as I got my order from Teheran. Within two days I got the
answer to my telegram that I was granted two months of leave of absence with
pay.
A while before thing had come to a
head in
Before I left
Having made good my promise, I then
made a mad dash for
I could not drive further than
We talked through the night. I
informed her about my plans for the future. I told her that I was fed up with
the way the Minister treated me and the atmosphere of the country had become
stifling. I said that we have to stay in
So it was on to Geneva where acquired
a second half French made caravan with the help of a colleague - Ali Reza
Bahrami, second in our Delegation at
the European Head Quarters of U.N. Form Geneva we travekked to
Upon learning
But Ardeshir would not stop berating
the hapless Foreign Secretary Aram. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard
him tell
From
I would have done it on my own any
way, since he was my mentor and the one who dispatched me to
That was not a problem, I had my
Caravan in a nice camping facility in the suburbs of
Dr. Ansari was not pleased with
I was amazed that Dr. Hossein
Montazem outlandish plan came to fuition and the dominos fell into their desired
places! Upon my arrival Dr. Ansari handed over my transfer order. I was assigned
as Consul General in our Embassy in
My colleagues in
Within two month of taking my post in
Rome, there came the official news that His Imperial Majesty Mohamad reza Shah
accompanied by Shahbanou Farah are on their way to United States and would be in
Rome for a brief stopover as the aircraft need to refuel. The Campino Military
Air Port of Rome was chosen by the Italian Authorities to receive the Imperial
Majesties.
Naturally we all went to the airport
along with some Iranian Naval officers who were attending the Naval Academy of
Italy. All together there were around fifty to sixty people in one long line.
Since I was the newest member of our mission I stood at the end, slightly apart
from the rest.
Their Majesties started shaking hands
with everybody from the beginning of the line. The line was finished but there I
was alone standing at semi attention, His Majesty looked a bit puzzled, I bowed
slightly when my Ambassador Mohamad Ali Massoud Ansari introduced me to His
Majesty. Suddenly the Shah asked me “What are you doing here?” Of course I
could not reply since whatever I would have said would have undermined his
choice of Foreign Minister which I could hardly afford under any circumstance.
After a brief pause the Ambassador said “Mr. Hakimi is transferred to the
Embassy in
I was ecstatic for the recognition by
my king. The Shah could only recognised and remember me for my accomplishments
in
Once in the VIP room I approached the
Ambassador and asked “Your Excellency will you please permit me to take a
photo of His Majesty?” The Ambassador replied “He is friendlier with you
than I, so go ahead and obtain your permission from him!”
I did not hesitate for a moment, I
approached His Majesty and with a
little bow I asked, “Would Your Majesty please permit me to take a
photograph?” Without hesitation His Majesty moved slightly aside, bottomed up
his jacket stood in a semi-attention and said “BEFARMAEED!” (Help
Yourself). I took my picture, then thanked His Majesty, and left for a
corner of the VIP room.
The Ambassador got hold of me and
said “Hashem get that photo enlarged & frame it so that I keep it on my
desk. The will be one souvenir worth having that will be hard to forget”.
Unfortunately due to upheaval of 1979 in our beloved land I have lost so many
valuable belongings including that rare photograph.
Fortunately there was no line when
their Majesties left the VIP room to get on board the Aircraft. Therefore I was
spared any further questions from His Majesty Shahansha Mohamad Reza Pahlavi
Araymehr.
Prior to ending this recollection,
let me leave the reader with some food for thought:
A
Toy For Little Ali
I started this story by describing
how I left for
Once we were in the shop, I asked
little Ali what he would liked to have as a birthday gift. He wanted a machine
gun. Naturally we were talking in Persian. At
this time the shop owner who was waiting for us to make up our minds came
forward, lifted up Ali in his arms, hugged him and said in Persian with an
Arabic accent: “Dear Ali (Ali Jaan), you Iranians do not need machine
guns, you have a King (Shah), machine guns are for us who killed our king
and are now killing each other, let me give you the biggest ever fire brigade
engine, complete with ladders, siren and remote control. You will have lots more
fun playing with the engine.”
Ali had seen young boys running
around the streets of
The shop keeper refused to charge me
for the fire engine. He had tears in
his eyes when we left his shop. I can never forget his words and sad face. The
encounter on that day in 1964 made me sad for a while but was soon forgotten
until years later when I saw our own youth carrying Klashnikovs and G3s, and the
experience in Baghdad made the words of His Majesty Mohammad Reza Shah ring
chillingly true: “With me the goes the security, stability, and comfort of our
people”.
THE
END