Meeting of two dictators, Ali Khamenei and Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania

As the meeting concluded, the farewells would be as formal and unrevealing as the greetings. No grand pronouncements, no dramatic breakthroughs, just the exchange of polite but hollow promises of continued dialogue and cooperation. Both leaders would depart, returning to their respective capitals and their particular struggles, perhaps with a renewed, if unspoken, appreciation for the uniqueness of their own authoritarian paths. The brief, speculative encounter would serve as a chilling reminder that, despite vastly different ideologies and cultural backgrounds, the pursuit and maintenance of absolute power often lead to remarkably similar manifestations of control, paranoia, and detachment from the human cost.