96: Chapter 93 Baghdad's Plans

The same day, 6 PM, Tehran.

An emergency meeting of the Supreme Defense Council was held at Ayatollah Khomeini's residence.

Ayatollah Khomeini's health was noticeably worse than it had been a month ago. He sat in a specially designed chair with three cushions behind him; his breathing was heavy, but his eyes remained sharp.

"The situation at the Pump Station," Montazeri said, "has been secured by Prince Reza. The siege by Iraq has been broken, the supply lines are open, and the Pump Station now has 7,500 soldiers and sufficient supplies. The Iraqis do not have the capability to retake the Pump Station in the short term."

"What is Baghdad's reaction?" Ayatollah Khomeini asked.

"Saddam Hussein is sending messages through the Soviet Union, expressing a willingness to discuss a ceasefire," Bani-Sadr said, "on the condition that Iran withdraws from the Pump Station and restores the pre-war borders."

"Conditions?" There was a trace of mockery in Ayatollah Khomeini's voice. "Does someone who has lost a battle still have the qualification to set conditions?"

No one in the conference room replied.

"Tell Saddam Hussein," Ayatollah Khomeini said, "a ceasefire is possible, but the condition is that Iraq acknowledges Iran's control over the Pump Station and pays war reparations."

Bani-Sadr frowned: "Ayatollah, it is impossible for Iraq to accept such conditions."

"Then continue fighting," Ayatollah Khomeini said, "Prince Reza is waiting for them at the Pump Station."

Hearing this, Rafsanjani reached a judgment: Ayatollah Khomeini was using the Pump Station as a bargaining chip to force Saddam Hussein to accept a ceasefire under humiliating conditions. If Saddam Hussein accepted, Iran would win this war; if he did not, Iran would continue to fight, and the Pump Station was a trump card in Iran's hand.

"Ayatollah," Rafsanjani said, "Prince Reza has a suggestion—he suggests not rushing into negotiations, but waiting for a period of time, until the Iraqis realize they cannot solve the problem through military means, and then set the conditions."

Ayatollah Khomeini glanced at him: "What exactly did he say?"

"He said that Saddam Hussein is proposing negotiations now because he feels pressure, but this pressure is not yet great enough. If we concede too much at the negotiating table, he will feel that we are also under pressure, and then demand even harsher conditions. If we do not concede at the negotiating table, he will continue to fight. Therefore, the best approach is to not negotiate for now and continue to apply pressure until he is truly prepared to accept our conditions."

Ayatollah Khomeini remained silent for a long time.

Then he said one sentence: "This man, he doesn't just know how to fight."

October 20, 1980, Pump Station.

Reza received instructions from Tehran: do not negotiate yet, continue to hold the position.

This instruction was exactly what he wanted.

Over the past two days, the defenses of the Pump Station had been reinforced by another layer. Hassan's men had buried 3,000 Anti-tank mines on the perimeter, Rajai's men had dug ten kilometers of anti-tank trenches, and Rezai's men had deployed twenty anti-tank firing points. Sadiq's men had repaired all the captured tanks and artillery, forming an armored battalion and an artillery battery.

The firepower at the Pump Station was now more than double what it had been when Reza first captured it.

"Your Highness," Karimi walked into the control room holding a telegram, "intelligence from inside Iraq. Saddam Hussein lost his temper at the Revolutionary Command Council yesterday, saying he wanted to replace the commander of the Southern Military District."

"Replace whom?"

"Lieutenant General Abdul-Jabbar Shangshale. Saddam Hussein said he was ineffective in command."

"Ineffective in command," Reza repeated, "Lieutenant General Shangshale is not ineffective in command; the tactics are wrong. Using tanks for a frontal assault on pre-set positions—it wouldn't matter who was in command."

"There is one more thing," Karimi said, "the Soviet Union has agreed to provide Iraq with new weapons, including AT-3 anti-tank missiles and Mi-24 helicopters. This batch of weapons is expected to arrive within two weeks."

Reza calculated the time in his mind. Two weeks was enough for him to do a lot of things.

"Notify Fatima," he said, "I need something that can hit an Mi-24. A man-portable air-defense missile with a range of at least four kilometers that can hit helicopters."

"Fatima is already working on it," Karimi said, "she says there is a copy of the Soviet SA-7 'Grail', and our technical team has already completed reverse engineering. Mass production is expected within a month."

"A month is too long," Reza said, "tell her two weeks. Two weeks at most."

October 22, Reza received an unexpected request for a visitor.

The visitor was not Iraqi; he was French.

"France?" Hassan looked puzzled, "What are they here for?"

"To sell weapons," Reza said, "or to buy oil. Or perhaps both."

The visitor was a French diplomat in his fifties named Jean-Paul Hervé. He was wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit, which seemed out of place in the Pump Station's control room.

"Your Highness," Hervé said in French, "I am a counselor from the French Embassy in Kuwait. The French government is very concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf region."

Reza replied in French: "Please get to the point."

Hervé was slightly stunned—he had not expected Reza's French to be so fluent.

"The point is simple," Hervé said, "France is willing to provide Iran with weapons, technology, and loans, on the condition that Iran guarantees France's oil interests in Iraq after the war."

"Post-war Iraq?" Reza smiled, "Do you believe this war will end in Iraq's defeat?"

"I believe," Hervé said, "that if Iran continues to fight like this, Iraq's defeat is only a matter of time. France does not want to wait until that day to enter the market."

Reza looked at this Frenchman, quickly assessing in his heart: the Frenchman came to see him, not Tehran, which meant they viewed him as an important player in Iran's future political landscape. This in itself was a signal—the international community was already re-evaluating his weight.

"I need three things," Reza said, "technical data for the Mirage F1 fighter, a production line for Milan anti-tank missiles, and satellite communication equipment."

Hervé noted these down in his notebook: "I need to report this to Paris."

"I will await your news," Reza said, "but I will not wait for too long."

October 25, Pump Station perimeter.

The Iraqis began to retreat.

It was not a full retreat, but a redeployment. They expanded the encirclement from five kilometers outside the Pump Station to fifteen kilometers, abandoning the attempt at a direct assault and shifting to a looser posture of surveillance.

Reza stood on the rooftop, watching the Iraqi convoy move slowly through the desert with binoculars.

"They are redeploying," Hassan said, "it's not a retreat; they are looking for new positions."

"What are they looking for?"

"They are looking for our weaknesses," Reza said, "but they won't find any."

"Why?"

"Because our weaknesses are not on the perimeter, but on the internal lines," Reza said, "ammunition replenishment, personnel rotation, logistical support—these are the real weaknesses. If the Iraqis could cut our supply lines, the Pump Station wouldn't last two weeks. But they can't do it, because we hold the channel."

"Then what will they do next?"

"Wait," Reza said, "wait for us to make a mistake."

"Will we make a mistake?"

"No," Reza said, "because I don't intend to stay here for too long."

Hassan turned his head to look at him: "You are going to leave the Pump Station?"

"Not leave, but move the battlefield somewhere else," Reza said, "the Pump Station is already stable; I don't need to watch over it personally. Next, I am going back to Ahvaz to prepare for the next phase."

"The next phase?"

"Taking Basra."