The meeting was over and the entourage left the conference room and was taken on a short tour of the laboratory itself. Dr. Fathi explained that the laboratory was not used for the production of the fissile materials — these were to be brought in from other nuclear plants in Iran or provided by its two nuclear allies — but to develop and construct the device. He showed them the "hot cells" where radioactive materials could be handled safely, the machinery and equipment that were needed to cast the fissile materials and shape them, the analytical chemical laboratory and the detectors used for nuclear spectrometry. He gave a brief description of the conventional explosives that were needed to compress the fissile material and the triggering method to achieve a symmetric implosion and cause a nuclear detonation. He once again repeated that their innovative idea of combining the two types of fissile materials, plutonium and high enriched uranium, in a single device was Iran's latest contribution to the advancement of science. He then took them into a separate part of the laboratory where a super-computer was installed and told them that they could run simulations of explosions at a speed that could have only been imagined a decade earlier. He looked at General Aslawi and said that his organization and the agents of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were to be thanked for illicitly obtaining the computer. The general smiled at this, but when he heard Fathi cynically adding that since his senior mathematician had "disappeared" the computer was now of little use, he blushed and muttered under his breath that Fathi's day would come soon. This Arabic idiom "every dog has its day" literally implies that even the lowest members of society will have their day of glory, but in colloquial use it means the opposite that the day of reckoning will come to everyone regardless of how high and mighty they are now.
The Supreme Leader said that he didn't quite follow all the technicalities that Dr. Fathi discussed. He proceeded to nominate Imam Mourtashef as liaison between his office and the laboratory in Basement S and to provide him with periodical progress reports. The Imam concurred and said that he would pay regular visits to the laboratory and would also start working on a plan to transport the nuclear device, once it was completed, to its target. When the Senior Assistant said that no decision has been made about its target or its use the Imam nodded and said that these decisions were to be made by the Supreme Leader and the Council.
Chapter 13
General Koliagin looked at his two guests and smiled broadly — something he didn't often do. "Well, well, well, who would believe that the three of us are sitting together like old friends?"
Imam Mourtashef looked across the table at David Avivi and in a very formal tone said "General Koliagin, I wish to thank you for arranging this meeting and for keeping it quiet. We all know that strange times precipitate strange events and this is just one of them".
David acknowledged the Imam and the General and said "Honorable Imam, I have asked the general to invite a senior representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to avoid an uncalled for confrontation with Israel. I am glad that you are here because your reputation as a clever and intelligent person and as one of the most powerful people in Iran precedes you and is well known. Especially, among the people who follow the events that are taking place in your country."
The Imam nodded and said "Mr. Avivi, or is it now Dr. Avivi? Your reputation as a clever and intelligent person is also well known, albeit in limited circles only. We know that you are here with the blessing of your Prime Minister and your boss, Mr. Shimony. Could we please now get down to the business at hand?"
General Koliagin intervened "It looks as if the Imam doesn't beat around the bush. David, please tell the Imam what you told me when you asked me to set up this meeting."
David opened "We were as surprised as everyone else when the news about the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists broke. We understood that once the nuclear deal between Iran and Six Powers was signed that there would be no justification to act against your scientists. This, of course, is not an admission that Mossad was involved in any such acts before the deal was signed. Israel's policy had always been to refrain from any comment on clandestine operations that were attributed to it. For example, we never confirmed that the Israeli air force was responsible for the destruction of the nuclear reactor that was built by the North Koreans in Syria. Of course, the most notable exception was that we took responsibility for obliterating Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor for the great benefit to the security of our country and yours. So you must appreciate the statement made by our PM and Mossad Head that Israel was not involved in these recent acts against Iranian scientists. You should take this statement at face value — no tricks were intended. I am here to provide further proof that these actions were not carried out by our government."
The Imam still looked skeptical "Do you know who did these heinous acts?" and when he saw David nodding he added "Can you provide proof?"
General Koliagin looked at David with great interest expecting him to continue but David was obviously still hesitant about how to proceed. After a couple of moments, when Koliagin was beginning to show signs of impatience, David continued "You may have heard about the double murder that took place in Berlin three days ago. The two dead people were former Mossad agents whose real names were Shmuel Jacobs and Rina Rabinov. They were known to their friends as Sam and Ruby. The crime scene was staged to look like a murder and suicide but our forensics experts have proven that it was a double murder and that the gun was planted in Sam's hand after his death. Ruby and Sam were dishonorably fired from Mossad three years ago after they were found to be partly responsible for a fiasco that led to a crisis and almost caused a rift between Israel and one of its staunchest allies. Since their discharge from Mossad they had left Israel and lived in Berlin and worked for a private security agency. I met them shortly before their murder and they admitted that they were guilty of carrying out the acts against your scientists."
Before he could go any further the Imam interrupted his narrative "Do you expect me to believe that these two Mossad agents did all these murders on their own? You say they were former agents, you disown them and their actions, but can you provide any proof that they were not under deep cover and still working for you?"
David continued "The firm for which Sam and Ruby worked was owned by a former Deputy Director of Mossad. He is known by his title Segan — meaning deputy in Hebrew — and I cannot disclose his real name. He was responsible for the debacle that led to the dismissal of Sam and Ruby and he, too, was fired because of this. His firm has earned a reprehensible reputation as a place where you could hire contract killers. We know that some anonymous person, posing as an English gentleman, has contracted Segan's firm to assassinate the scientists, but we have not yet managed to find this person. Segan has gone into hiding and nobody seems to know where he is, but we are concentrating our efforts on finding him and the people that hired him. And, honorable Imam, I don't expect you to believe that Sam and Ruby had operated on their own. Obviously someone provided them with up to date operational information on the whereabouts of your scientists and where and when they would be most vulnerable. Furthermore, we suspect that someone inside your own establishment has assisted this gentleman who passed the operational information to Segan". David had no evidence of this last item but thought that it would be a good opportunity to get the Iranians to start hunting for a non-existent spy in their midst.