Plan and Political Intrigue

General Hashemi, head of Iranian Intelligence Service, expects to destroy an oil dependent U.S, economy by denying it oil imports from two major supplies. He names his plan Operation Delilah. However, he needs permission from Iranian President Ahmadi to carry it out. Ahmadi suspects Hashemi will use his success to lay claim the presidency. Ahmadi has designs on another term for himself and needs Hashemi's plan to fail.

Utilizing a disgraced Iranian officer, Major-General Bustani, as a conduit, Hashemi's plan is leaked to Israel's Mossad. The CIA's Bill Barone confirms the Mossad's report that a CIA hit squad is headed to Egypt. Barone joins forces with the Mossad's Ben Zev and the two head to Egypt to prevent Iran from succeeding. There, with the help of General El Sayed, head of Egyptian Internal Security, they need to stop the assassins. Only, they don't know who is to be killed or where.

The Cairo Operation and Its Aftermath

In the main Bazaar in Cairo, Barone spots Zephyr, who is in charge of the assassination team, in a crowd and he is captured. Zephyr's team is now useless and Hashemi has them killed. A backup team assassinates high-ranking members of the Saudi king's family and plants evidence to show that the CIA killed them. That evidence is enough to convince the Saudis to stop oil shipments to the U.S. The destruction of the U.S. pipelines bringing oil from Canada is successful, as is the assassination of relatives of the Saudi king, which leads to the stoppage of oil imports from that country.

Failed Overthrow and Embargo

However, Hashemi's plan to overthrow the Saudi king and replace him with Ibn Kamall, an anti-American cleric, comes up short. General Hakim, a corrupt Saudi officer, had agreed to sell to Hashemi the security details Kamall needs to seize the Saudi King. Hakim demands more money and furious Hashemi pays him in counterfeit currency. Hakim takes his revenge on Kamall. The Saudi oil embargo continues.

Confession and Political Consequences

The Egyptians have an Iranian officer in jail, on unrelated charges, and Ben fabricates a confession for him naming Hashemi as the man behind the killing of the Saudis. The Saudis don't believe the confession is genuine and the embargo remains. The Saudi demand for lifting the embargo is a purge of those CIA officials who should have prevented the killings. The U.S. president, wanting a second term, complies.

Final Dilemmas

Having failed to stop the assassinations, the CIA offers Barone two options, neither of which he wants.