Coll 30/9(2) 'Admin. Reports of the Persian Gulf - 1945 -' [‎110v] (220/1148)

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Plant which threw many people out of work* Trade was
slack due in a large part to restrictions of exports from
India and to the lack of shipping, though by the end of
the year B*I.steamers were calling more regularly and merchants
were able to obtain some shipping space for the export of
local products. The cost of living remained very high
compared with pre-war levels. In spite of the partial crop
failure owing to lack of rain, the cereal^ supplies of the
town were comparatively well maintained. Cultivators were
able to engage in record sowings thanks to seed wheat supplied
by the Government of India.
Security on the Bushire—Shiraz road improved towards
the end of the year but the condition of the road, no longer
maintained by the British authorities, deteriorated. The
Tribal Areas were comparatively <juiet under the control of
their local chiefs with little interference from the Persian
Government.
Relations both official and social between the Consulate-
General and the Persians were most friendly. The Bushire
Reading Room and Club were well patronised. The sale of
periodicals was maintained and the visits of the cinema van
from Shiraz most popular.
Chapter 4. KERMAN AND YEZD (Pages 23 to 40)
Owing to war-time restrictions there was little trade
with foreign countries though some carpets were exported to
America. Thanks to the work of the Consular Liaison Officer,
Major Hassan, the food position both in Kerman and Yezd was
satisfactory. The American Director-General of Finance,who
arrived about the middle of the year, made great efforts to
ensure the proper distribution of monopoly goods, he was less
successful, however, in his endeavours to check corruption in
the Economic and Finance Department.
A general state of insecurity existed throughout 1944
both in the Kerman and in the Yezd Areas, the operations of the
Indian Long Range Squadron on the Kennan-Zahidan route doing
less to discourage banditry than had been hoped. The gendarmerie,
as elsewhere in Persia, were hopelessly inefficient and ineffective
and in some cases openly connived at robberies and hold-ups.
Allied successes swung -public opinion both in Kerman and Yezd
from apathy and even hostility to whole-hearted belief in Allied
victory, ‘and Anglo-Persian relations both social and official
became most cordial. Persian broadcasts from London and Delhi
were popular, as were cinema shows, and the Reading Rooms were
well patronised. Local distrust of the Russians grew during
194A*At the end of the year a branch of the Tudeh opened at Yezd.
Chapter 3. BANDAR ABBAS (Pages 41 to 44)
The state of security in the Bandar Abbas District was
exceptionally good during 1944 “ pleasant contrast to the rest
of Persia. Owing to restrictions on the export of goods from
India and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , the volume of trade at this port was
comparatively small.
Chapter 6. KOWEIT (Pages 45 to 52)
The investiture of the Sheikh with the K.C.S.I. demonstrating
his excellent relations with H.M.G., was the occasion for a
remarkable demonstration of loyalty to their ruler on the part of
the people of Koweit. Relations between the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. and
the Sheikh were most cordial, and His Highness continued to give
every possible help to the fighting services. In April 1944 the
Sheikh proclaimed an amnesty for the political prisoners, who led
the agitation against him in 1939.
/The