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Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [‎21v] (42/248)

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The record is made up of 1 file (122 folios). It was created in 21 Jun 1942-15 Mar 1946. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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12
S'
of junior officers and non-commissioned officers, with some success, it is
believed. In spite of all this some slight general improvement is noticeable in
the troops in the capital. In the northern provinces of Khorassan and
Azarbaijan the troops are entirely demoralised by the high-handed actions of
the Russian authorities who allow them no liberty of action, restrict them to
certain defined areas and insist on the limitation of their numbers to what
amounts to little more than token forces, which add nothing to the authority c£~ r ^
prestige of the Persian Government; rather do they make the Persian authorities
look ridiculous.
48. The influence of General Ridley and his mission in any matters other |
than supply is less and less in evidence. The term of their contract ended in
March of this year, but at the request of the Persian Government the United
States Government has allowed them to stay on for the time being.
Gendarmerie.
49. The gendarmerie, except in the capital, remains much where it has
been for the last three years—corrupt, inefficient, creating rather than preventing
disorder; and Colonel Schwarzkopf’s schemes, rules and regulations are, with a
few exceptions, still on paper. Antagonism between the army and the
gendarmerie has been steadily increasing, and parties sent out by both forces
to pursue robbers have more than once come to blows with each other.
Co-operation between the two forces is rare. The retransfer of the gendarmerie
to the control and administration of the War Office is now receiving some serious
consideration. Such a step should lead to economy and might lead to improved
security.
50. Gendarmerie District Headquarters have been abolished except in Pars
and Azarbaijan, and gendarmerie regiments are now under the direct command of
Gendarmerie Headquarters in Tehran. This will complicate the relations of
the Governor-General with the gendarmerie in his province: he previously had
the district commander with him at the provincial capital.
Police. *
51. As Russian provocation of the proletariat through the Tudeh party
and, consequently, the probabilities of disturbance and riots in the towns
increase so does the police force become less capable of maintaining order.
Always corrupt, it has now reached incredible depths of venality and inefficiency.
Many of its officers are in the pay of one or other of the money-making rackets
or one or other of the political parties. No impartial action can then be expected
in the treatment of any situation. For this state of affairs successive Govern
ments are, of course, primarily to blame. Even if an energetic and capable
chief of police were to be found he would be frustrated by the pusillanimity and
inefficiency of Ministers. Only a mission of foreign officers with adequate
powers, which once granted can be exercised independently of changes in
Government, and adequate funds at their disposal can be expected to turn the
Persian police force into an instrument for the impartial suppression of disorder,
and even they, as the experience of the American officers with the gendarmerie
has shown, will have no easy task. The quality of the Persian police is of
particular interest to His Majesty’s Government since it is on that force that
reliance must, in the first instance," be placed for the protection of Anglo-Iranian
Oil Company labour against intimidation and subversive provocation.
Persian Air Force.
52. Under the personal stimulus of the Shah, there has been a good deal
of talk about modernising and expanding the air force. The advice of the
Royal Air Force as to equipment, training and organisation has been sought
and in great measure taken, but in view of the chronically meagre air force vote
progress is not likely to be rapid.
53. Meanwhile, there is some superficial improvement in day to day work,
but morale under Brigadier Khosrovani remains bad.
Civil A ir Lines in Persia.
54. The Iranian State Airline, under the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs j
and Telephones, now operates two return services a week to Bagdad via
Kermanshah and one to Bushire via Isfahan and Shiraz. Passengers are not
(officially) carried south of Isfahan pending the installation of wireless facilities
on this section of the route.

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Content

This file consists of miscellaneous dispatches relating to internal affairs in Persia [Iran] during the occupation of the country by British and Soviet troops. The file begins with references to an Anglo-Soviet-Persian Treaty of Alliance, signed in January 1942, which followed the Anglo-Soviet invasion of the country in August-September 1941.

Most of the dispatches are addressed by His Majesty's Minister (later Ambassador) at Tehran (Sir Reader William Bullard) to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden). The dispatches discuss political, financial and economic affairs in Persia, as well as issues regarding road and rail transport (for the transportation of foodstuffs), food supplies and press censorship,

Related matters of discussion include the following:

  • British concerns regarding the extent and effect of Axis propaganda in Persia and the Persian Government's response to it.
  • Relations between the Shah [Muhammad Reza Khan] and successive Persian prime ministers, and the power and influence of the Majlis deputies.
  • Anglo-Persian relations, and British concerns regarding Soviet policy in Persia.
  • The Persian press's response to the Allied occupation.
  • The Tehran conference in late November 1943, attended by Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D Roosevelt, who were also present at a dinner at the British Legation, held in celebration of Churchill's 69th birthday (also discussed is the naming of three streets in Tehran, after Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt respectively).
  • The tribal situation in Persia.
  • The raising of the status of the British Legation in Tehran to that of British Embassy in February 1943.
  • The United States' interests in Persia.
  • The status of Polish evacuees in Persia.
  • The work of the British Council in Persia.
  • The question of the withdrawal of Allied troops from Persia.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).

Extent and format
1 file (122 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 124; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [‎21v] (42/248), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/564, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100042321849.0x00002b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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