Ext 5000/41(6) 'PERSIAN SITUATION: MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS' [‎400r] (799/920)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government, and should be kept
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[CYPHER] POLITI CAL DISTRIBtFTIOH
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FROM PERSIA
EROM TEHRAN TO FOREIGN OFFICE
With the Compliment!
of th«
Under Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs
Sir R.Bullard.
No. 955 A.
28th July, 1942.
D, 11.27 p.m. 28th July, 1942.
R, 4.. 10 a.m. 29th July, 1942.
1 ^'
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Repeated to Foreign Si.fliLff--,.
Nev/ Delhi ||
Bagdad
2 9 JUL 1H2
Minister of State Cairo No. 1039. ®
W J-l 7 St*AL 4
999999999
IMMEDIATE
The Cabinet is very shaky. Owing tothe incompetence
and corruption of local officials the bread situation is bad
in many districts and there have been bread riots at Burujird and
Malayir and I know no one who now expects that Soheily, who is
himself considered both corrupt and afraid to act,can reform
his Cabinet in such a way as to be able to deal with this
crisis. The Shah sounded Pimia (Personalities 156) about
forming Cabinet but he refused. The general opinion seems to
be that Qawam al Saltana is the only man on the spot who could
hope to make some headway against the difficulties which beset
the Persian Government. The Russian Ambassador would like me
to join him in putting Qawam into power but I have told him that
apart from the fact that my latest instructions are to put up
with Soheily for the present, our policy is to accept any
Government which the Persians set up provided that it will work
energetically with the Allies<, I added that if Qawam was put
forward as Prune Minister at this juncture I should
certainly not feel justified in objecting.
2 e The Russian Ambassador saw Soheily to-day and, I
gathered, complained of the Government’s failure to deal with
the food and transport problems and the fifth column (the
I Ambassador declares that the Commandant of the Persian troops
Jin Rezaieh gave a party to celebrate the fall of Rostov).
Soheily said that he must either resign or remodel his Cabinet
by August 2nd. He mentioned several possible candidates for places
in his Cabinet but only one likely to be at all popular and to
re—inforce the Cabinet is Tadayyun about whom the Ambassador still
seems doubtful® The food situation and the German advance in
Russia have created problems which I fear are beyond Soheily’s
powers and the Russian Ambassador and I have bothcome to the
conclusion that his weakness and inactivity constitute
a serious danger for the Allies®
I am to see the Prime Minister to-morrow and I shall
tell him that I have reported to you about his Government in
most pessimistic terms.
[Copies sent to Mr. Armstrong.]