Saudi Diplomat Recounts Being Slapped by Revolutionary Guard in Iran

Suddenly, I felt a hard slap across my face.

A slap. A hard slap. You mean he hit you. A slap, right? Yes.

So I kept my composure, actually. Then he asked the question again.

What was his rank? I mean, who was the one who hit you?

He was with the Revolutionary Guard. I think he was their commander at the airport.

They're everywhere, all over Iran. Everywhere.

So when he hit you, what did you do? I did nothing. I kept my composure.

And we have instructions that we shouldn't provoke the person in front of us.

If he's angry, don't provoke him further, so I held back.

Then he went back and asked the question again.

So I stuck to the same answer. The slaps kept coming. Oof. Yes.

About three or four slaps. And you… You kept your composure.

I kept my composure very well. With women and children.

That's why you're in the Foreign Ministry.

That's a diplomat's quality. Almost, almost certainly.

That's what they call self-control. Yes, no doubt.

But that slap was aimed at all of Saudi Arabia.

Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, and then? Then, when we gave up hope of getting an answer, he shoved me hard.

There were some chairs behind me. So I fell onto the chairs.

And he spoke to him in Persian. I think he told him to take him outside.

I composed myself, thinking about the person outside.

So I went outside.

We all sat down on the floor. I sat next to my wife.

My wife saw that my face was red, I mean, it was blazing red from four slaps.

She said, "What's wrong with your face?"

I told her, "It's nothing. Be quiet." I didn't want to bother people.

So she went quiet. She knew I didn't want to show what…