Ted Halstead - The Saudi-Iranian War

There were many palaces in Riyadh, but when someone talked about “the” royal palace they could only mean one, where the King had his principal residence. The Crown Prince strode forward through its main entrance to meet his father, for what he knew would be a difficult conversation.

He found the King sitting calmly in one of the Palace’s many reception areas, reading a book which he put down at his son’s approach. After they had completed the usual greetings and picked up their coffee cups from the service laid out before them, the King looked at him shrewdly.

“So, Talal, there have been developments not necessarily to our advantage,” the King said, peering at the Crown Prince over his cup.

It took the Crown Prince all of his self-control not to spit out his coffee at the King’s reference to the words Emperor Hirohito had used in explaining Japan’s surrender to his subjects after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Well, it wasn’t such a bad parallel, considering two nuclear bombs had also been dropped on the Kingdom. Fortunately, their casualties had been much lower than those suffered by the Japanese.

“Yes,” he replied carefully. “Though the Qatari invaders approaching from the east have been defeated, we were not able to stop the Iranian force coming from the north.”

The King nodded. “You now say definitely that the remaining invaders are Iranian. How did we confirm this?”

“We attacked their force with tanks, helicopters and drones. The drones sent back images from close range that our experts say include Zulfiqar tanks, which Iran builds and no nation but Iran uses. Also, the Americans have just contacted us and said they have confirmed the invaders are Iranian,” the Crown Prince concluded.

The King shrugged and said, “Very well. In any case, no other nation ever made sense as an attacker from the north. Did the Americans say anything about assisting us against the Iranians?”

Now it was the Crown Prince’s turn to shrug. “They claim they can get the Iranians to stop outside the capital, but said nothing about how. Since the battle took place about thirty kilometers north of the airport, I expect their tanks to reach here soon. I have a helicopter waiting outside to take you to the palace in Jeddah.”

The King shook his head, and said, “No, Talal. This is my kingdom, and no invader is going to force me from my home. If it is my time to die, so be it.”

The Crown Prince frowned and replied, “Father, you have a duty to your subjects to live, so that you may continue to provide them with the leadership that has helped our country move forward for so many years. Hundreds of our best tanks will be here from Yemen in a matter of hours, and Ali will be here fresh from his victory over the Qataris even sooner. Together they will sweep these invaders away from the capital. Don’t make their victory hollow by waiting for an enemy who desires nothing more than your death.”

The King shook his head again, and replied, “No, my son. There is no helicopter for my subjects in the capital. If I cannot protect them here, then I deserve to die, and our family should no longer claim leadership of this nation. Now go, and do whatever you can to stop the Iranians. Whether you succeed or fail, I know we will see each other again soon.”

The Crown Prince started to speak, and then stopped and simply nodded.

After kissing his father on both cheeks, he left in an even greater hurry than he had arrived.

Colonel Hamid Mazdaki grinned, but there was nothing pleasant about his smile. He had just taken a quick look outside his tank’s hatch, and in the distance had been able to see the Kingdom Centre, a three hundred meter tall office building in the center of downtown Riyadh. That meant he would reach the royal palaces today, and be able to begin destroying the legitimacy of the Saudi royal family at a minimum.

If the King and his princes had been foolish enough to stay in their palaces, as they had been claiming over the radio, he might be able to deal with the Saudi royal family even more directly.

To his astonishment, he suddenly heard the voice of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Vahid Turani over the headset that he and every one of his tankers wore. Hamid realized several things in an instant. The first was that Vahid could only have obtained the frequency he was using to speak to his troops from the men who had sent him on this mission, and that could only have happened if Vahid were now the Supreme Leader.

The next was that in order for Vahid to be speaking to his men here, he either had to be in Saudi Arabia, or his signal was being relayed by someone with a more sophisticated communications capability than his force possessed.

Like the Americans with their cursed drones.

The last was that Hamid could do nothing to stop his troops from receiving Vahid’s message.

Well, let him try to stop us within sight of victory, Hamid thought savagely. After every obstacle my men have overcome, the prattling of some cleric isn’t going to stop us now!

“Brave soldiers of Iran, this is Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Vahid Turani. As provided in our Constitution, I have been elected Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts. I am sorry to tell you that you have been betrayed by the men who sent you to attack our Saudi brothers, including the criminal Reza Fagheh, who among others were executed in Tehran this morning.”

These words went through Hamid like a lightning bolt. Vahid would not lie about a fact so easily checked. If Reza, who had authorized this entire operation, was dead… There was no way home.

Well, so be it, he thought grimly. I never expected to make it home anyway.

But I’m still going to do what I came here to do. End the House of Saud.

Vahid’s voice now came into Hamid’s focus again.

“…have fought with courage, but in an illegal and cursed cause. Besides your tanks, the criminals have also used nuclear and chemical weapons against Saudi civilians. Our nation will have to pay a heavy price for these crimes.

“But you can end your part in them, and even do more than that. You can atone for the crimes you have committed, and stand blameless in Paradise for the evils you did unknowingly at other’s command.

“You must turn your weapons on your brothers, and stop the criminals from achieving their illegal and cursed goals.

“I am now speaking to you through a drone flying high overhead. That same drone can see all of you, down to the unit numbers on the sides of your tanks.

“What you do now will be recorded and examined in judgment.

“Not of you, because no matter what you do now, you will never live to return to Iran. No, the judgment will be of your family. Because if you are so evil that you do not repent after hearing my words now, surely your family is not fit to live among us.

“Now, I will stop speaking. It is time for all of you to earn your place in Paradise.”

Hamid frantically mashed on his handset’s transmit button. “Men, this is a Saudi trick! Don’t let a voice on the radio turn you against your brothers. We all know who the real enemy is, and he’s defenseless before us! Let me lead you to victory!”

Nearly thirty seconds passed of complete silence, including within Hamid’s own tank, where none of his men said a word.

Shells from three different tanks hit Hamid’s Zulfiqar-3 tank at nearly the same moment, killing everyone inside instantly. The fierce battle that followed lasted only minutes, since at the combatants’ range missing was almost impossible. The only real question was who decided to fire first.

Hesitation meant death, but those quickest to fire often lived only seconds longer as others made their decision.