"THE EAGLE AND THE PEACOCK"

It is the story of the downfall of the Shah of Iran; the revolutionary take-over of the government, lead by Ayatollah Khoemeini; the flight of the Shah and his death; the taking of the United States’ hostages; the fantastic and bizarre negotiations behind the scenes using an improbable Argentinean and French lawyer, to secure their release; the eventual release in exchange for the unfreezing of Iran’s gold and other assets; all the foregoing taking place with a pace and urgency dictated by the exigencies of the presidential election that year and, also, the internal political intrigues within Iran itself.

I have commenced the story from the grand celebrations held in the Shah’s palace on 31^st December 1977, to celebrate the 2500^th anniversary of the Persian empire; the guests of honour are president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn; extravagant, even embarrassing, speeches are made by the shah and president Carter expressing the desire of both nations to continue their ‘special relations'; many dignitaries and diplomats of other countries are also present, including king Hussein of Jordan; the president and his wife leave; the festivities continue but the induced euphoria of the occasion conceals the impending collapse of the shah and his throne on a historic scale;

From here the story contrasts the rapidly-moving general political situation in Iran, particularly in Teheran, by highlighting the crucial events which served as catalysts for the revolution; organising for the overthrow of the Shah is juxtaposed with the activities of the ayatollah and his supporters in Paris where he had been residing for some time; the desperate measures attempted by the shah and his army chiefs, together with the assistance and advice from western governments to prevent his abdication culminating in the efforts of U.S. general Huyser which failed; the shah accepts defeat and leaves from Teheran airport carrying a pathetic plastic bag containing some Iranian soil handed to him by general Amini; the shah had hoped to take away, with him, his fabulous crown but was prevented by strikers in the bank where it was kept in the vaults with other priceless crown jewels including the world-famous peacock throne.

From here we move between Teheran and Paris where frantic preparations are being made for the return of the Ayatollah to Iran; ayatollah returns in triumph to unbelievable scenes of ecstasy at the airport and all over Teheran; however, the legitimacy of the ayatollah's position and the formation of a new government had to await the result of a crucial, and final, battle at an airforce base at Doshen Topper between the remnants of the Shah's supporters and those of the new regime; this part of the story ends with the scene inside the Iranian parliament with the resignation of the prime minister Bakthiar and the election of Mehdi Bazargan as his successor.

The second part of the story begins with the shah in New York undergoing an operation and ends with the release of the hostages and Jimmy Carter's chagrin at being out of office before the release of the hostages.

Between these two events the action moves from place to place not only in the United States and Iran but also England, Germany, Algiers, France and Panama; in Teheran the American embassy is attacked in a well-planned strategy and the hostages are captured.

Covert moves are made by the U.S. to persuade the shah to leave America and go to Panama; he goes; president Toriijo's attempts to ‘exchange’ the Shah for the hostages; this fails after an intriguing ‘plot’ ; Shah insists on leaving Panama ; he leaves and is welcomed by president Sadat in Egypt; soon gets seriously ill and dies of cancer; even this does not help the hostage crisis; other avenues are explored and fail; too;

Frustration provokes the ill-fated and egregious attempt to rescue the hostages from the embassy using a helicopter task force; new negotiations are resumed in September 1980 with a secret Iranian contact that also ends in failure; Iraq invades Iran and a brief interruption in negotiations ensues;

Fresh, and different, attempt to solve the crisis is made involving the Algerian government as mutually agreed intermediaries; very serious negotiations follow; after a truly incredible and frenzied and, at times , absurd pace; finally with the involvement of U.S. banks. The fed, the staid bank of England and many other banks a deal was struck and the hostages were released as the incoming president Ronald Regan was taking office.

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The full text of the above script is available on request. I am inviting interested parties to contact me with the aim of developing the script into a film or TV series. If you are interested, please send your message now to: Email Malcolm Gerreyn.

Copyright: Malcolm Gerreyn. All rights reserved.

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