ORIA Hub

21 AUGUST 1978

**CONFIDENTIAL**

ORGANIZATION FOR THE RECLAMATION OF ISLAMIC ARTIFACTS
SHEMIRAN, TEHRAN PROVINCE
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

1. This document is being forwarded specifically to higher-level officers only due to certain political consequences for myself should the full content of this be revealed publicly. I trust all of you will behave with the utmost discretion when discussing the contents of this memorandum with your subordinates.

2. The recent protests around Iran, which has served as the principal headquarters of this Organization in the half-century since its inception, have grown too significant to ignore. While we have made every effort in the past to abide by the intent of the Organization's founders to avoid official government association, I and the other members of the Central Committee have agreed that enforcing this separation is no longer in the best interest of the organization.

3. My sympathies with Ruhollah Ayatollah Khomeini and his movement are well documented. While I know many in the Organization disagree with his fundamentalism, I doubt there are many who, in their heart of hearts, feel that Iran is better served by the despotic rule of a Western puppet-king. I have been in contact with Khomeini, who is aware of and tentatively interested in our organization, disturbed by its less than orthodox adherence to the strictest tenets of Sh'ia Islam though he may be.

4. Two practical realities dominate this situation. First, we are not going to be rid of the Ayatollah or his movement. The Central Committee has projected a likely complete overthrow of the Shah's government and installation of some form of government under Khomeini by no later than this time next year. An insistence on opposition to this movement (which would not serve us) or autonomy (which would draw the ire of all sides) could lead to our destruction by those forces that do not understand the true role we play in protecting our homelands from foreign threats. Second, the Ayatollah is not likely to be rid of us. In my meeting with Khomeini, I revealed an aspecific portion of the plans for Operation Golden Horde, with a slight reminder that in a war of hearts and minds, hundred-meter-tall golems walking the streets of Tehran are not likely to be viewed as a positive harbinger for the new government.

5. By agreement with the Khomenites, ORIA will formally become a wing of the new government as soon as it is installed in power; the Ayatollah feels that a degree of oversight would help us "come to understand" proper Orthodoxy in time. We will directly begin providing assistance to the protesters as we are able to, up to and including the special artifacts that we control; this will provide an excellent opportunity for field application and demonstration of the military capacities of our stored artifacts. In exchange for this assistance and our eventual sublimation into government oversight, I have been assured that our effective autonomy will not be tampered with by the new government. Our operations will continue unabated, our continued inclusion of non-Iranian personnel from across the Muslim world, including Sunnis, Kurds, pagans, and Jews will not be opposed by the government, and we will soon be receiving direct funding from the national government of Iran, which should help us advance our cause.

6. House Afseneh has directly insisted that they be left out of this arrangement. What little interest they have in human politics does not extend to revolution, and they have expressed extensive concerns about Khomeini. They have agreed that our traditional alliance shall be continued, with ORIA as the principal intermediary between our peoples, but any disclosure of the existence of the Afsenites or any other *djinn*House may lead to a permanent termination of relations. I need not stress how damaging this would be to our cause.

7. I will be resigning my position as head of the Organization effective immediately. The Ayatollah has requested, given my popularity and generally respected position among both fundamentalist Muslims in the country and some of the less-enthusiastic moderates, that I take a more active role in his developing government. Mohammad Khatami shall replace me as the head of this organization as Director; rather than being known as Chairman, his title shall reflect the official name this organization will have within the new government, the Islamic Artifact Reclamation Directorate.

8. Protect our people. Protect our nations. In all times, this mandate will always stand.

9. This memorandum transmitted 23 Sharivar 1358 (14 September 1978).

**CONFIDENTIAL**