SAVAK

SAVAK is presented as the Shah of Iran’s torture organization and, in a fable told to the Imam, as a source of danger whose influence extends beyond Iran. Its exiled former chief’s apparent access to London’s telephone system makes the organization a sign of how political power and intimidation may persist after exile.

Identity and Reputation

The narrative identifies SAVAK through the feared status of its former chief, described as the exiled head of the Shah’s torture organization. It provides no account of the organization’s structure or activities beyond that description. Instead, SAVAK’s significance comes through the reach attributed to its former leader: even in London, the story suggests, distance from Iran does not guarantee safety.

The Mahmood and Renata Fable

Bilal X, an American convert who had formerly been a successful singer, tells the Imam about Mahmood, a young singer from Desh. Mahmood has moved into an apartment with Renata, whose previous lover is the exiled former chief of SAVAK. The account presents the couple as vulnerable to the former chief’s attention, not as participants in SAVAK’s operations.

The threat takes the form of two letters. The first announces the former lover’s awareness of the new relationship; the second supplies a telephone number that Mahmood and Renata have not yet received from the telephone company. When the company later assigns them that same number, Mahmood concludes that the former chief has connections inside it. He begs Renata to leave, believing that her past relationship has placed them in danger.

Exile, Surveillance, and the Imam’s Lesson

The Imam takes the tale as a warning about the need for constant vigilance. In his telling, London is a refuge that admits people from many backgrounds, including figures with consequential connections: the exiled SAVAK chief is said to have influence at the telephone company, while the Shah’s former chef runs a restaurant in Hounslow. The anecdote turns ordinary urban networks into possible extensions of political power.

This account belongs to the Imam’s experience of exile, where perceived surveillance makes precaution part of survival. The possibility of hostile eyes and listening devices already keeps his own residence guarded; the Mahmood story supplies a parallel example of an exiled adversary reaching into private life. SAVAK thus functions less as a depicted institution than as the name attached to a lingering threat, and the fable reinforces the Imam’s insistence on caution.