Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [‎85r] (169/248)

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CONFIDENTIAL.
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
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July
5, 1943. i.MT \\
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1943
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Sir R. Bullard to Mr. Eden (Received 5th July.) l/t > ~* gr
(No. 271.) "
Si r? Tehran, '2§th June, 1943.^- ^ q
THE .Soheily Government has managed to survive practically intact sin^T .
mv despatch No. 139 of the 6 th April last, although it cannot be said that its’^ ^
career nas revealed any particular merit. Bayat (Seham us Sultan) succeeded 4ru± ft**** /
Saleh at the Ministry of Finance, and I tibar took over the Ministry of (
Agriculture. Both of these Ministers were also Deputies, a fact which was <T.
used in an interpellation by the Deputy Tabatabai during May to attempt to
overthrow the Government. The interpellation also alluded to the Govern
ment’s action in handing over certain powers to the Military Governor in con
nexion with the suppression of the press, but it failed to find much support ")
suppression
and was rejected by a large majority. Whether this showed that the Majlis
was whole-heartedly behind Soheily is more than doubtful. It more probably
showed that the Majlis disapproved of Tabatabai, and that the members were
unable to make up their minds who would be a satisfactory successor, if Soheily
went. A great deal of dissension has been reported among the various members
of the Cabinet, most of whom, including Hikmat, Tadayyun and Marshal Amir
Ahmedi, seem to have aspired to the post of Prime Minister themselves. Other
candidates for that high office were Ali Mansur, now Governor-General of
I^horasan, Majid Ahy, now in Russia as Persian Ambassador, and the absent
Soyyid Zia ed Din Tabatabai. Hikmat finally resigned in the middle of June,
o 1 ring, he said, to his feeling that the Prime Minister was not giving him proper
si pport in his administration of the Ministry of Justice. No Minister of the
Interior was appointed and Soheily has remained in charge of that Ministry.
'2. Signs of a change in tribal policy were to be seen. On the one hand,
Marshal Shahbakhti, as the result of constant pressure from this Legation, was
dafinitely ordered to call the bluff of Nasir Qashgai and attack the dissident
tribesmen with the forces at his disposal. After a great deal of delay he did
so, and on the whole the results seem to be satisfactory, as the Qashgai tribal
leaders seem to be breaking away from Nasir and his brother Khosrow, both of
whom have fled. I have reported on this more fully in the Section ‘ ‘ Tribal
Situation ” in this despatch. There has, of course, been a good deal of criticism
of the action of the Persian Government, both from Deputies like Naubakht and
from the Turkish Ambassador, who speak of “ fratricidal strife." It is, there
fore, to the Government’s credit that it has so far endeavoured to restore order
and governmental authority in large areas of South Persia. On the other hand,
tribal leaders have, in two cases, been summoned to the aid of the Government.
Ibrahim Qawam (Qawam ul Mulk) has been sent to Ears to help Shahbakhti,
though without formal appointment to any post, whilst the wealthiest and
perhaps the cleverest of the senior Bakhtiari Khans, Morteza Quli Samsam-
Bakhtiari, has been sent to govern Bakhtiari. The latter left for his post on
the 21st June and it is hoped that he will be able to reassert authority on behalf
of the Government throughout his tribal territory, and in particular fo bring
the scatter-brained malcontent, Abul-Qasim, to heel. It must not be imagined,
however, that these two appointments mean a return to the old system of tribal
rule through semi-autonomous “ Il-Khanis.”
3 . In his three first reports for the Persian months covering the period
dealt with in this despatch, the Director-General of Finance (Dr. Millspaugh)
has made an assessment of the present economic and financial situation in
Persia, and has pointed out that the most urgent tasks before the Government
are that they should deal with the inflationary rise in price, and should balance
the budget. I have already reported at length on these aspects of the situation,
and I propose to do no more in this despatch than indicate in broad general
terms the financial and economic background against which the Government
carries on the country’s business, and the measures that are in being or in con
templation for dealing with the emergency.
Su
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