Chapter 20 Summary and Analysis

John was sitting at a bar in Tehran when his old friend, Farhad, from Middlebury came up. Farhad tells John they need to leave the country because it was about to fall apart. Farhad and John left for Rome the following day to stay with Farhad's parents. His father, a retired general, used to be very close with the Shah. He was now completely disillusioned by the Shah's arrogance and greed. He blamed U.S. policy for the hatred that was spreading throughout the Middle East, stating that the U.S. "sowed the seed of [the]rebellion" when they had overthrown the Mossadegh. The U.S. was convinced the shah was popular enough to keep the Islamic undergraound at bay. Farhad and his father told John all about Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was a fanatical Shiite that was urging Iranians to...