Weiseman is a young, idealistic diplomat, who has been posted to trouble spots before, so the mission is not new to him as he steps out on the hot and dusty streets of Tehran that are filled with religious extremists calling for the overthrow of the ruling Shah, as well as undercover SAVAK agents who are quick to arrest and torture them, and massive protests that often turn into riots.
As the country descends into chaos, Weiseman is exposed to multiple dangers from the established Iranian elite, military hardliners, and religious zealots, while he remains wary of the constant maneuvering of his Middle Eastern and European partners. Kaplan shows how competing interests, foreign manipulation, and domestic brutality soon led to the violent overthrow of the last Persian monarch as well as one of the longest hostage crises on record.
After a 27-year career as a diplomat in the US Foreign Service, and now retired as a lawyer with a DC law firm, writing Night in Tehran offers Kaplan a venue to express his thoughts on the events that took place in that volatile period of the Middle East. It is not just a snapshot in time, this insightful novel is a poignant reminder of how Cold War strategies continue to reverberate through the modern global landscape and is still relevant today as it was in the 70s.
Students of history will find it a useful reference to study the events that took place during the Shah era in Iran. And how decisions by politicians can sometimes mess up lives of people working in trouble spots as experienced by the Americans working in the US Embassy who were held as hostages for 444 days by the followers of Ayatollah Khomeini.