'File No. II/12 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re: affairs in Persia and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Jan '09 --' [‎60r] (119/178)

Memorandum of information received during
the month of June 1909 y relating to
affairs in JPersiay and on the Arabian
shore of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
[Noth. I his memorandum IB based upon reports, the accuracy o£
which it is not always possible to guarantee.]
PERSIA.
1. (Vide paragraph 1 of Memorandum
Situation in Persia. f 0r ^ a y 1909.) The
improvement in the
situation which was apparent at the end of
May was not maintained. The efforts of the
Eritish and Russian representatives to
overcome Nationalist distrust of the Shah
appear to have failed and hitherto attempts
to persuade the Nasr-ul-Mulk to return to
1 ersia to take office have equally been
unsuccessful. At the end of June the situation
was complicated by the advance on the 26th
June of the Bakhtiaris on Tehran. The Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Assad arrived at Kum with one gun and
seven hundred men. At the end of June
the position was shortly as follows. The,
Sipahdar, who was still at Kasvin with
several guns and a considerable force, was in
touch with the Bakhtiaris. The palace and
the upper classes in Tehran were panic-struck.
The Russian and British Consuls at Ispahan
had gone to Kum to try to dissuade the Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
from advancing further. The Russian Lega
tion was still parleying with Kasvin. The
electoral law had been completed and signed
by the Shah, and was shortly to be promulgated.
The Saad-ed-Dowleh, who was still acting
Prime Minister, as the Nasr-ul-Mulk had not
arrived, was very unpopular and had resigned
as he was not supported by the other members
of Cabinet, who feared the Nationalists,
but was temporarily retaining office.
(Vide paragraph 1 of the Memoran-
Situation in Azerbaijan. dim f Or May 1909.)
I he arbitrary conduct
of the Russian troops after their occupation of
Tabriz, which they treated like a conquered
city, produced a most unfavourable impression.
The arrest of several Russian Nationalists and
of Naib Husain, one of Sattar Khan’s Lieuten
ants, resulted in numbers of people, including
Sattar Khan and Bagher Khan, taking bast
in the Turkish Consulate-General on the
31st May. The Turkish Charge* d’Affaires
subsequently explained to the Russian Minister
that this was due to the oppressive measures
of the Russian General, and he added that
the bastis would continue to receive Turkish
protection until such time as the Russian
General altered his conduct.