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a Court official, but he withdrew and Bayat was apparently chosen, in spite of<
his defects, as an alternative to Sadiq Sadiqi, who had been heard recommending
compliance with Russian demands.
14. Bayat presented his Cabinet to the Shah on the 25th November and
to the Majlis the next day. Two of the new Ministers, Khalil Fahimi, Minister
without Portfolio, and Sururi, Minister of Interior, had occupied the same posts
m ba id s Government. With the exception of Nadir Arasteh, the new Minister,
of Posts and Telegraphs, all the new men had previously held Cabinet rank.
N asm 11 ah Intizam was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs after Muhsin
Rais, Persian Ambassador in Bagdad, had refused the post. Kemal Hidayat
became Mimster of Commerce; Amanullah Ardalan, Minister of Finance; Dr. Issa
badiq, Minister of Education; Ibrahim Zand, Minister of War; Dr. Said Malik
Minister of Health; Mustafa Adi, Minister of Justice; and Ali Akbar Siash
xiinister without Portfolio. On the whole the new Cabinet was thought to be
a fairly good one. °
15. On the 2nd December a new turn was given to the oil dispute when
Di. Musaddiq tabled a bill in the Majlis making it illegal for any Persian
Government to give an oil concession to any foreign Government or company but
authorising the Prime Minister or Ministers to discuss the sale of oil or the
manner in which the Government should undertake the exploitation and adminis
tration of its oil resources, and to inform the Majlis. The bill was passed
immediately. The Tudeh deputies were completely nonplussed by this new
development and asked for time to collect their fraction and discuss the bill
but were refused. The next day Rahimian, deputy for Kuchan, tried to bring
forward a bill to cancel the Anglo-Iranian oil concession but could find no backers
and dropped R. Discussion on the new Government’s programme was concluded
on the 4th December and Bayat received a vote of confidence by a majority of
seventy-two to nine with sixteen abstentions.
.i t!?A ^ Majlis itself the coalition of the three fractions, the Mihan
the. Ittanadi Milli and the Azadi, did not survive the crisis which led to Sa’id’s
resignation. The Azadi group had disintegrated until by the end of December it
contained only seven to eight members. Two new fractions composed of ex-
Azadi members and a number of independents were reported to be taking shape
during December. These were the Mustaqil group which claimed about seventeen
members, and the Democrats, said to number about twelve. The attitude these
two new fractions intend to adopt remains to be seen. During the period under
review the Majlis passed the credentials of a number of deputies from the North
who had been elected with Russian help. The credentials of Mujtahidi, deputv
for Tabriz, and of Ovanassian, deputy for the Northern Armenians and a founder
member of the I udeh party, were passed on the 15th October. Those of Ipekchian
and Lanka rani, both creatures of the Russians, were passed early in December.
Lankarani was elected by a particularly shameless exercise of Russian influence
The pro-Government majority in the Majlis, which had long obstructed the
acceptance of these Russian-sponsored deputies, had finally deemed it unwise, in
vle T °f. i t T 1 | ls m Russo-Persian relations, to maintain their opposition the
credentials of four other deputies were also passed during this period; those of
imad Toulieh, deputy for Rey; of Murad Aryeh, member for the Jews; of
Pur Reza, deputy for Firuzabad; and of Muhammad Hussein Qashgai, who had
recently been elected deputy for Abadeh. ^ ^ lltlu
17. The Tehran press was divided by the oil crisis into two violentlv
antagonistic groups—the Freedom Front and the Independence Front The
former, consisting of newspapers which receive money, paper and promises of
future help from the Russians, violently attacked Sa’id when he refused the
TL C TTl 10n r nd ( f ntmue { i t0 a^ack him after his resignation. They also
attacked the ruling classes whom they accused of being the instruments of reaction
and imperialism. Seyid Zia, who is a particular object of their hatred was
rli 0 . have ^ b / 0U ! ht . ba S k ^ his masters from Palestine to prepare
« other coup d Etat. 1 aqizadeh was also said to have returned from London
nH h f 8 ?!? 10 Smi !i ter ® cheme . m connection with the oil question. Towards the
end of the period under review some of the Freedom Front papers were comparing
conditions in Persia to conditions in Greece and Belgium and were alleging that
a fight was going on all over the world between the proletariat and the mling
classes Meanwhile, however, the number of papers which opposed the Russian
demand for a concession had increased until in December they formed an
Independence Front in opposition to the Freedom Front. Ra’d Imruz one of
le principal papers of the Independence Front, published on the 21st December
a very outspoken declaration on the crisis by Seyid Zia, containing a reasoned