"تقرير عسكري عن طهران وأقاليم شمال غرب بلاد فارس المجاورة لها (بما في ذلك المناطق المطلة على بحر قزوين)" [ظ‎‎١‎٤‎٨] (٦١٠/٣٠١)

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The average duration ot transit in each case is 60 days.
The result is that a merchant ordering goods from England
can have no conception as to what the cost of transport will
be by the time his goods arrive.
Further obstacles at the present time to British trade in
this part of Persia are the irregularity and delays of the postal
and telegraph services.
Formerly letters from Tehran could reach London in 10
days via the Enzali-Caucasus route. They now take two to
three months by the Persian Gulf ports.
The excellent overland services of the Indo-European Tele
graph Company have been suspended since 1914 and cannot be
resumed during the present state of Russia, so that telegraphic
traffic is now limited to the Eastern Telegraph Company’s
submarine cable, which is congested with British and Indian
official telegrams. Non-official telegrams are delayed and an
interval of 7 to 14 days elapses between the despatch of a
commercial telegram from Tehran to London and receipt of
the reply.
The detriment to trade of such delays is heightened by
the post-war disorganization of European industries and the
constant fluctuation of prices. In addition to the uncertainty
about the cost of transport in Persia there is an embarassing
uncertainty about the current prices of the merchandise in
Europe, the chances being that the priced catalogue from a
British firm will be out of date and the prices revised by the
time a Persian merchant’s'order is received.
Owing to such difficulties the supply of foreign manufactured
goods does not meet the demand and the markets in Persia are
“ starved.”
Trade is therefore dislocated, present conditions are only
temporary and the supply of foreign commodities to these regions
in the near future, not taking into account possible subsequent
developments of road and railway communication with the
Persian Gulf ports, depends chiefly on :—
1. The reconstruction of Russia and resumption of trade
relations.
2. The future of transit via the Caucasus. By transit in
bond British goods would enter the area on favour
able terms.
3. The advance of the railway from Quraitu and transport
facilities via Mesopotamia.