“When 1970 came,” he said with obvious glee and his characteristic habit of exaggeration, “I had two hundred million tooman in cash in my hands.”Critics, of course, give a less sanguine account of his sudden wealth. His sheep survived, they say, because he forcefully—relying on the power of his patrons—usurped the lands of peasants and other ranchers. His two patrons were General Ayadi and General Nasiri.