Chapter 11
Shahroud Missile Test Site, Iran
Sardar Bagheri closed the door to the conference room, then locked it. He turned around and said, “Are we sure this room is
secure?”
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s Aerospace Force—meaning he was
responsible for securing, transporting, and inventorying all uranium enriched to near weapons grade—bristled at Sardar’s words,
saying, “It’s not wired for sound, if that’s what you mean. I own this base, and I certainly don’t want this conversation
recorded.”
Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Force, chuckled and said, “Forgive him. He’s not accusing you. He
lives in the shadows, where everyone could be an enemy.”
Which was true. While the Quds Force was responsible for all external operations directed by the Iranian regime, from something
as simple as passing funds to a terrorist cell to as complex as training and equipping a guerrilla army, only one unit within
it conducted operations unilaterally, and Sardar was its leader.
The commander of Unit 840, he was the direct-action element of the Quds Force.
He was tasked with non-attributable covert action, to include the assassination of anyone the regime designated, from dissidents in foreign countries badmouthing the Supreme Leader to foreign officials deemed to be a threat.
While most Quds Force activities leveraged proxy militias, such as the Houthis in Yemen or Hezbollah in Lebanon, Sardar executed missions personally, on the sharp end of the spear.
One of the few regime organizations that actually executed operations with Iranian hands, he didn’t trust anyone.
Not even the commander of the IRGC ballistic missile program.
Brigadier General Komeil Kohnsal, the Chief of Staff for the commander of the entire IRGC said, “His fear is not without merit.
All of you should remember that if we’re found out, we’ll hang.”
Sardar took a seat and said, “Sir, this is your plan. Your idea. Are you having doubts now? After all my work?”
Kohnsal said, “No. We need to continue, even if the Supreme Leader doesn’t see the merit yet. It’s worth the risk, but only
if you’ve succeeded in the preparations.”
Out of the four, only Sardar had held his position more than a year. The rest were recent replacements as their predecessor—in
some cases, predecessors—had been targeted and eliminated by Israel in the latest round of fighting.
Three of the men at the table believed in the mission they were conducting. General Kohnsal had developed the strategy. General
Qaani had fleshed it out, bringing in Sardar for pre-mission preparations. The fourth, General Hajizadeh, wasn’t so sure,
but as the head of the missile command, his participation was critical.
He said, “If this is so necessary, then why are we conducting this meeting in secret? Why don’t we operate with the blessing
of the Supreme Leader?”
General Qaani said, “We conduct this in secret because the Supreme Leader, as great as he is, does not see the future. He
lives in the past, when we had victory after victory, not the present, with disasters unfolding before us. We’ve been defeated
in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria and probably very soon in Yemen. Our air defenses have been demolished, leaving the homeland
open to anyone who wants to fly over with a bomb. The Zionist dogs smell blood, and it’s precisely because we’re bleeding. We need to strike back with an overwhelming blow, or we’re going to be swallowed.”
After the US assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, and then his successor’s death from an Israeli drone strike, Qaani
had been handpicked to command the Quds Force. As a man who’d fought both on the front lines and in the shadow wars of Iran
since the 1979 revolution, his words held weight. But his stature alone wasn’t enough to convince General Hajizadeh.
He said, “You speak the truth, but I’ve heard all this before. You haven’t said how we’ll succeed. You keep hinting about
the uranium I control, but the Zionists and Americans have destroyed any ability to convert it to a final weapon. It’s simply
enriched, but in and of itself, it can’t do any harm.”
General Kohnsal said, “That’s not true. Even by itself it is a potent force, if used correctly, but the primary one is that
the uranium will just be a catalyst. The true revolution will come from the West Bank.”
“West Bank? What does that mean?”
General Qaani said, “Even as Hezbollah and Hamas have been eviscerated, we’ve been infiltrating arms and training into the
West Bank. We have a cadre of men ready to resist. To fight. This will cause others to rise up. It won’t be like the Nakba.
Nobody will flee from this fight. Instead, they will flee towards it, just as we saw happen with the Great Satan in Iraq.
The Palestinian cause has faded from the world view, but the hatred of Israel thrives. We need to rekindle and intertwine
both.”
General Hajizadeh took in his words, letting them settle. Eventually, he said, “What makes you think that will happen? It
hasn’t so far. There was no huge reaction to the Zionists obliterating Gaza. Nobody rose up when they assassinated Nasrallah.
Nobody even struck back when your predecessor, General Soleimani, was assassinated by the Great Satan.” He looked around the
room, then said, “While I want to believe, past history has proven that success doesn’t care about beliefs. What’s different
now?”
General Qaani said, “It’s not what’s different now, but what will be different when we execute. We’ll lay the groundwork to
make Israel look weak. No, forget that, not look weak. To cause them to become weak.”
General Hajizadeh furrowed his brow, saying, “How?”
“By using some of the uranium you control to create what is known as a dirty bomb.”
Astonished, General Hajizadeh said, “Are you serious? That will be a waste of what little uranium we’ve enriched to weapons
grade. It’s our final leverage point with the Great Satan, and our only way to break out to a nuclear capable weapon after
they destroyed our facility at Fordow.”
“True, but for two points. We have four hundred kilograms, which is enough for ten nuclear weapons. We only need one or two.
I’m not proposing using all of it for this. In fact, I can’t successfully infiltrate that amount into Palestine. Second, the
leverage is precisely the knowledge that we have it. They won’t know it’s gone until it is used. The leverage remains whether
we use some in this operation or not.”
“I still don’t see how this will work differently than any other blast. All it will do is cause massive fear and confusion,
not destruction. It will make the Zionists react with overwhelming force.”
“Precisely. That is the catalyst. One, the Zionists’ perceived superiority and security will be pierced like a balloon. No
more failures with your rocket attacks. No more looking weak as everything we throw at Tel Aviv is shot out of the air. We’ll
use the same playbook Mossad used against us when they infiltrated drones into our desert. The Zionists’ security will be
laid bare, and they will do to the West Bank what they did to Gaza, and that will be the tipping point. The world will turn
against them, and the people in Gaza and the West Bank will no longer line up for handouts of food, but for killing Zionists.”
General Hajizadeh considered his words, then said, “But it is still a single blow. When you asked for this meeting, you implied
it would be more.”
“There is more. Your uranium is the capstone attack, but we are also going to attack the capital of the Great Satan, paralyzing its
government right before we initiate the weapon. There will be no Great Satan telling the Little Satan to stand down. The Zionists
will have free rein to run rampant throughout the West Bank.”
Surprised, General Hajizadeh said, “How? How will you do that? Another dirty bomb? Do you wish uranium for that as well? That won’t do anything but make the news. Americans aren’t going to rise up and take over their capitol.”
Qaani said, “No, we don’t need uranium for this strike, and you misunderstood. We aren’t going to attack their Capitol building,
we’re going to attack their capital city.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Not your concern. Just understand that we won’t use your precious uranium unless we’ve succeeded on that front.”
“Who will control the weapon? Will it be Pasdaran men?”
“No. Unfortunately, we don’t have the capability to do that anymore, but our infrastructure from the past remains. A good
team that isn’t known to the Zionists.”
“What if they go rogue? I’m not comfortable giving our crown jewels to some desert beggars. How will you control them?”
Sardar interrupted, saying, “May I, sir?”
“Go ahead.”
Sardar turned to Hajizadeh, saying, “I recruited and trained these men. They are planning the attack based on the circumstances
they see on the news, but I can change that. They will listen to me. If you wish, I can ensure they won’t execute unless they
receive an order from this command, no matter what they hear is happening elsewhere. An order coming straight from you. Would
that be more amenable?”
Hajizadeh thought for a moment, then said, “Yes, that would be amenable. A command from us, made together. We decide when
to trigger, and if one of us disagrees, we don’t execute. Can we agree to those stipulations?”
The other commanders nodded, and Hajizadeh said, “Even with the attack, and assuming this magical dislocation of the Great
Satan occurs, the Zionists have their own government. I agree the desire will be strong to use overwhelming force, but it’s
not assured. You may not get the catalyst you wish. I realize there are men in the Zionist government who have wished this
fight for decades, and they have a stronger voice now, but it may not be the strongest voice when the time comes.”
“You are correct, we do intend to leverage those very men. To do that, we have a third attack planned that will nullify any voice for a measured approach. Operation Zarbeh-e Sāyeh will succeed by the reaction of those men.”
“Zarbeh-e Sāyeh?”
“That’s what Sardar is calling our planning group, and I like it. Shadow Strike. It’s fitting, because while the West looks
for the missiles in the air, we will strike where they least expect it. The third attack is against the head of the Zionist
snake, leaving the body to thrash without reason.”
Confused, Hajizadeh said, “How are you going to do that?” He let out a nervous laugh and said, “Don’t tell me you expect me
to drop a bomb on the prime minister like they did with Nasrallah? It will never reach him.”
“Actually, yes, that is the heart of Operation Zarbeh-e Sāyeh. In fact, it is the first phase, but it won’t be accomplished
by you and your missiles.”
Shocked, Hajizadeh said, “You’re going to try to kill the Zionist prime minister?”
“Not try. We’re going to kill him, right before we attack the Great Satan and use your treasured crown jewels against the
Zionists.”
Growing agitated, General Hajizadeh said, “But that may guarantee a strike against us. Maybe even a nuclear one! Instead of
glory at the pain of the Zionists, it may engender our own destruction.”
“Calm down. It will only guarantee a first strike if they can prove it came from us. They won’t be able to do that, but the
desired effects will still occur. While the Zionists are reeling from that blow, the Americans will feel our wrath—and then
. . .” He paused and nodded at Hajizadeh. “Only after we’ve all agreed—we will execute the final strike. Trust me, we will cause exactly what we’ve planned.”
“How? How will you get someone who can accomplish such a thing without our fingerprints?”
Sardar spoke up for the first time, saying, “Luckily, there are plenty of people who want to kill the Zionists, and we have
found one who is especially good.”
“Who?”
“You don’t need to know who he is, just that he is skilled at his job and he hates the Zionists more than we do.”
“If he is that good, he will be known to the Zionists. You saw the pagers in Lebanon. Mossad is everywhere and your man will
be hunted.”
“No, he won’t. They may have heard of him in the past, but he’s been gone for ten years. Trust me, he’s a ghost.”