A Time To Betray Part 24

Moheb Khan and Omid kept trading opinions throughout the election season. At the same time, I shared my thoughts with the rest of the world by writing articles in various media outlets in which I spoke about the relationship between the American election and the mullahs' aspirations for an Islamic conquest of the world. Of course, I used a pseudonym-one separate from the names we'd taken when we came to America-to protect my ident.i.ty. After I confessed to Somaya, we agreed that it would be safest to keep this secret between the two of us for the rest of our lives. But, as I had promised her, I was telling the world what I'd witnessed. The simple fact was that the West had a tremendous influence on the policies of Iran-despite what the mullahs might say-and I knew the next American president would have a chance to give the young people of my homeland their first real glimpse of freedom. Regardless of which candidate won, I prayed that he would not repeat the mistakes his predecessors had made of trying to appease the regime. When Barack Obama won the election on the same day that our grandson, Arya, was born, I saw this as a very positive sign.

Still, as much as our own household radiated optimism, Iran continued to face dark times. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current president of Iran, was a closed-minded radical Islamist. He'd been vaulted into power by the same clerics who'd so completely undermined former president Khatami in his attempts to bring reform: the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, and Ayatollah Jannati, the true believers of Mahdaviat Mahdaviat who awaited the coming of Mahdi, the twelfth Shiite Imam, who would rule the world before the end times. Before becoming the president, Ahmadinejad, then mayor of Tehran, had secretly instructed the city council to build a road especially for Mahdi that led to the mosque of Jamkaran. Once he became president, Ahmadinejad allocated millions of dollars to enhance the mosque for the reappearance of Mahdi from the adjacent well where the president and other zealots believe the twelfth Imam is in hiding. who awaited the coming of Mahdi, the twelfth Shiite Imam, who would rule the world before the end times. Before becoming the president, Ahmadinejad, then mayor of Tehran, had secretly instructed the city council to build a road especially for Mahdi that led to the mosque of Jamkaran. Once he became president, Ahmadinejad allocated millions of dollars to enhance the mosque for the reappearance of Mahdi from the adjacent well where the president and other zealots believe the twelfth Imam is in hiding.

Like others who think as he does, Ahmadinejad believes that many of the signs of Mahdi's return have emerged. Known as hadiths, these signs include the invasion of Afghanistan, the bloodshed in Iraq, and the global economic meltdown. According to prophecy, the hadiths will grow increasingly furious as Mahdi's return comes closer, including "persecution and injustice" engulfing the earth, "chaos and famine," and "many wars." The hadiths predict that "many will be killed and the rest will suffer hunger and lawlessness." People like Ahmadinejad so completely believed that these conditions would hasten the return of the twelfth Imam that they were willing to foment universal war, chaos, and famine to bring it about.

After the 9/11 attacks and the fall of the Taliban, I decided that I needed to activate a handful of sources within Iran. The world seemed to hold the Islamic government blameless in the attacks, but I knew that the mullahs were likely to have had a hand in any act of terror directed toward America. My sources told me that the Guards were harboring Al Qaeda members and that Ahmad Vahidi had close contact with bin Laden's organization. Back when I was working for the CIA, I'd reported on Vahidi, then chief intelligence officer of the Guards, who was involved in the U.S. Marine barracks bombing as well as many other terrorist acts, including the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that earned him an arrest warrant from an Argentinian judge and a red-alert listing on Interpol. By 2008, he was deputy defense minister (and he is now defense minister), overseeing Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs with only one goal in mind: to obtain the bomb. My sources also told me that the Guards were running multiple covert operations for their nuclear bomb project and that one was set in a secret underground facility west of the province of Mazandaran, a mountainous region in the north of Iran. This latest revelation was something of a tipping point for me when combined with what I'd learned on my own-I had become more vigilant about my surroundings and more aware of radical Islamist activity in the U.S. I realized that I needed to share what I had learned. Since I no longer had a handler, I called the CIA headquarters in Virginia to arrange a meeting with a local agent.

I had high hopes that the Obama administration would be tougher on the Islamic government of Iran, especially given what they knew about the regime's nuclear activities. However, his first overture to the mullahs disappointed me. He sent greetings for the Persian New Year in which he urged better relations between America and Iran. He then repeated this in letters to Ayatollah Khamenei. To me, this was a sad case of not learning from history. Once again American politicians refused to see that the mullahs were not men of reason, and that their animosity toward America was rooted in the interpretation of a prophecy that called for the annihilation of the West and all non-Muslims. I knew the regime would see Obama's entreaties as a sign of weakness, and that this would embolden them to take radical steps.

While I continued to hear from my contacts within Iran, I strove to stay focused on my family. The summer of 2009 was an idyllic time in our household. Somaya and I had fallen in love with our grandson. "Oh! He looks exactly like Omid," Somaya would say every time she held Arya. Our home brightened with the presence of a new baby, and though we never discussed my sickbed confession again, I think the baby helped heal any lingering wounds this confession might have caused. As summer began, Somaya told me that she would not go back to work the next fall. She wanted to stay home, where she could spend more time with her grandson when Omid and Kelly were at work. With Arya around, she would not miss the children at the elementary school.

I wish Iran could have experienced some of our joy that summer. Instead, it continued to serve as a source of heartbreak for all of us. Worldwide headlines blared the news that the people of my homeland were in the streets of Tehran protesting peacefully for the freedoms they felt the regime had stolen from them yet again. A presidential election very different from the Obama-McCain election had just taken place between Ahmadinejad and reformer Mir Hossein Mousavi. On the eve of the election, all signs pointed to a landslide victory by Mousavi. Interior ministry officials informed him that he was going to win and Ali Larijani, the speaker of the parliament, congratulated him. Then Guards commanders entered his headquarters to inform him that Ahmadinejad would be p.r.o.nounced the winner the next day. They told Mousavi that he should not object to this as it was in the best interests of the Islamic Republic and that this outcome had the approval of the Supreme Leader.

As a result, Ahmadinejad "won" a second term, and the people of Iran simply couldn't take it any longer. I found it inspiring to see young people loudly broadcasting their desire for change. In the crowd scenes beamed back to America, I saw Nasers, Royas, Soheils, and Parvanehs. I saw the protesters as the tenders of Agha Joon's garden full of flowers, a new generation spreading their seeds in its soil, nurturing freedom, and helping it to blossom in my lost country once again. They were strong and united and ready to rid themselves of the pain my generation had brought them. Even without the support of the West, they were going to bring about change. They were escalating a movement that had begun only moments after Khomeini betrayed Iran by lying to us about his intentions. He was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and the killing had continued in the two decades since he died. But no one could kill the spirit of this movement.

The protests drew the attention of the world in unprecedented ways. Iran was the focus of headlines for weeks, and world leaders denounced the results of the election and the regime's brutal response to the protests. With the eyes of the world on them, the mullahs and the thugs who took orders from them fought mercilessly to hold on to the power that had never been their right, using extreme force to deny that their time was over. In their minds, Mahdi was coming and the blood they shed now was yet another hadith. When a Basiji shot young Neda Agha-Soltan dead as she stood on the periphery of a protest, Neda became the international symbol of the fight for freedom and the regime's utter disregard for life. The government threw all foreign journalists out of the country and suppressed the media, but they couldn't prevent the video of the dying Neda from reaching every corner of the world.

As I complete the writing of this book, the regime seems to have pushed back another attempt at reform. In late September 2009, Ahmadinejad spoke defiantly to the UN, and days later Iran tested long-range missiles. In addition, one covert nuclear facility was exposed, though it was not the facility I had information on. This means that there are others that have not yet been revealed. The American response so far has been to seek a world coalition to enact the toughest sanctions yet in an effort to force the Islamic government to partic.i.p.ate equitably in the world community. The sanctions would target Iran's oil income among other things and they would be devastating-if there is a true coalition. Unfortunately, the world has not united to uphold sanctions against Iran in the past, so there's little reason to believe it will do so this time.

While the regime is standing tough, I truly believe their iron rule over Iran is coming to an end. The Iranian people have announced to the entire world that they want the liberties that are their birthright. They are not going to accept anything less.

Twenty-eight years ago, I began a quest to free my people. My efforts took us only so far. But now an irresistible movement is forming. Iran will will be free again. And when that time comes, in spite of the heartache I endured and the shame I felt at needing to resort to betrayal, I will rejoice. be free again. And when that time comes, in spite of the heartache I endured and the shame I felt at needing to resort to betrayal, I will rejoice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

When my wife suggested that I had to tell the world my story, for a long moment I glanced back on almost three decades of my life. I was not sure anybody would want to know how someone could betray his own country, his family, and his best friends. But my wife taught me that by telling my story, the world would understand the pain of a nation, not just an individual. I thank you, Somaya, for your kindness and support, and for the trust I did not deserve.

During this journey of more than three years, I was so lucky to have a literary manager who believed in me. Peter Miller never doubted my story, and his encouragement gave me strength throughout this project. Peter, you are a true lion!

I made so many friends throughout this journey; the friends whom, for safety reasons, I never had the chance to meet in person, friends who had never insisted on knowing my true ident.i.ty. They just believed in my story, and their help made this book possible. My thanks to Mary Strobel, to whom I am indebted genuinely for her care and guidance and incredible work of more than a year day and night editing and re-editing; Darrend King Brown, who opened my eyes in so many ways with his to-the-point critiques; Joe Quirk, for his enthusiasm, unbelievable talent, and great work; Tamim Ansary, for his insightful comments and critiques; and John Strobel, for his unmistakable line editing.

I am so thankful of my dear friend Shirley for her kindness, support, and trust. Thanks so much for all you've done for me and for reading the ma.n.u.script and believing in me. I will never forget your fondness.

Special thanks to Washington, D.C., attorney Mark Zaid, who helped me navigate through all sorts of unimaginable hurdles that stood in the way of the publication of this book. Without his efforts, many pages might have been nothing more than black lines.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank the great Iranian singer Dariush and Mr. Iraj Jannatie-Ataie, the legendary songwriter, for all the beautiful and caring songs they've performed for Iran and the Iranians, especially the heartfelt song "Vatan."

Finally, I have to admit that this book would have not been published without the help of Lou Aronica. His hard work, talent, critique, comments, and fine editing make this story flow like a river. He raised my confidence, and his involvement was an honor. Lou, I thank you for all the hard work and for making this possible.

Needless to say, I am indebted to everyone at Threshold Editions, and to Patrick Price, for his hard work, great review, and recommendations, and particularly to Anthony Ziccardi, for his faith in my story and for believing that my voice should be heard!