Khamenei and the Christian

For the unknown soldier imprisoned in Iran

The American soldier, code name 'Blood Wolf', real name Jim Morris was a captive of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He was caught doing recon on the Supreme Leaders complex in central Teheran. He was brought into an audience with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ruler of Iran for the last 35 years, though he was not sure why. Why would the Commander of Iran's military be interested in a spy like himself?

Khamenei was a frail old man of 85, togged up in a cleric's robes. Morris knew that his right hand was crippled and useless from an assassination attempt. His appearance seemed austere as did the furnishing of the room. Particularly since he controlled a personal financial empire worth more than $95Bn as well as the Iranian state. It seems the CIA profile on him was correct, his motivations were God and power and this was why his networks were mainly composed of clerics and soldiers. The people with him were also recognizable. Hossein Salami was the head of the revolutionary guard and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was also there. The Foreign Minister acted as a translator since he spoke English. Morris noted earpieces in Salami and Khamenei's ears, they were listening in.

"Why are you here?" asked Zarif.

Morris shrugged, why reply when the answer was obvious?

"Is the Supreme Leader a target of the Great Satan?"

Again Morris shrugged. This was well above his pay grade.

"We think that would be a mistake and we want you and your government to understand why it does not serve their interests either."

Morris replied to that. "You hate us and want to destroy us and also Israel whom we protect."

"Hate might be too strong a word, you are a useful scapegoat for the anger, hate and frustrations of my people while we move our country in the right direction."

"Poverty, oppression, and war being the fruit of that!? You sponsor terrorists: Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis all of whom target Americans."

"Freedom fighters, an axis of resistance against the illegal occupation of Muslim lands by the Zionists."

"Or as George Bush once said, an Axis of Evil, dedicated to the overthrow of all that is good in this world."

"Good!? The freedom to be a pervert or a prostitute, to kill the unborn and the old, and to oppress the righteous. The freedom to blaspheme the name of God and that of His servants and to print lies about Islam?"

"The freedom to be good or bad so long as you do not trample on everyone else's freedoms in the process. But why should we not regard you as our enemy?"

"Let us be very clear and honest here. The deeper conflict in this region is between Shia and Sunni and Saudia Arabia is the real evil in the region. If you blow us to pieces then the Saudis will no longer need you as allies and you lose control of the oil. Iran cannot defeat Israel in a war, especially if the USA supports it. Everyone knows this. We make your positions uncomfortable with our freedom fighters and Israel will never know peace until it gives back the lands it stole. That is all as it should be, but one thing we stand against is the development and use of nuclear weapons which we regard as an affront to Islam. If you target Khamenei or in time his successors you risk empowering those elements of the Iranian political elite who do not have his restraint regarding weapons of mass destruction."

Morris nodded, the fatwa against nukes was well known to him and they had a point here.
"So what is the message you have for my government?"

"It is a list of targets of people who are not sympathetic to your government's restriction on the development of nukes. We want you or the Israelis to take them out. We will then rage against you and maybe even fire a few missiles at Israel, giving you warning before we do so but no more."

"OK, that sounds like a reasonable proposal I could bring to my government." Morris smiled relieved that he was going home.

Khamenei said something in Farsi, Zarif nodded and turned to Morris.

"Are you a believer in God?"

"Yes I am a Christian and believe that I am saved by Jesus Christ," the soldier replied. Zarif nodded and smirked. "We have no problem with Christians."

"So why do you persecute them? You know the church was here in Persia before Islam and it will outlive it, even now it is growing strongly." Morris knew how much his words would cost him the moment he finished speaking.

Zarif nodded to the Guard - speaking with some anger in Farsi first, then in English, "Take him back to his cell."

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