Ext 5000/46(1) ‘Persian Situation: Miscellaneous Reports’ [‎16r] (31/1202)

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had continued unabated since the time of the strike in most ot the Tehran and
provincial papers, should be stopped. It has increased in violence since then,
jpari passu with Moscow radio and the Soviet press.
The labour law referred to above provided for the organisation of trade
unions and for commissions to decide on minimum wages, labour disputes,
workers’ welfare funds and other social benefits. The Labour Counsellor of His
Majesty’s Embassy in Cairo has paid two visits to Persia during the past three
months and has assisted, along with representatives of the A.I.O.C., at meetings
of the commission to fix wages and allowances and later in the deliberation of
the Supreme Labour Council, which first met during September. Mr. Audsley
has also helped the Ministry of Labour in drafting trade union regulations. It
has been announced that three French experts aie to be employed by the Ministry
to work out schemes for workers’ welfare funds. All this is looked upon with
some misgiving by the Minister for Finance, since increases of wages on a large
scale cannot but lead to inflation and increased cost of living, and the necessary
currency is not available. Moreover, the Treasury has had to ask for an advance
of £1 million from royalties payable by the A.I.O.C. to finance purchase by the
Government of this year’s grain crops, and other means are being devised to try
to force the Imperial Bank of Iran, and other banks who are much less affected
to deposit without interest with the Banki Melli a percentage of their public
current deposits and to take up Government securities in order to finance public
works.
Efforts have continued throughout the period under review to clear up out
standing differences with the Azerbaijan Administration. These are in the main,
the control and organisation of the armed forces to be maintained in the province
and the evacuation by the Azerbaijanis of the town and district of Zendjan. A
delegation has been in Tehran for some time, but their efforts have been abortive.
For practical purposes Azerbaijan is independent of the Central Government.
Tehran newspapers are not allowed to circulate in Tabriz and strict control is
exercised over the movements of all travellers to and from the province. The
Tabriz Administration has its own internal difficulties with the Kurdish Com
mittee in Mahabad. The Kurds do not acknowledge the jurisdiction of Tabriz
and there has been friction between the two as to who should control Rezaieh.
The Kurdish nationalist movement and the unsettled state of affairs in Kurdish
Azerbaijan have made it necessary for the Persian Government to keep a division
of troops in the Senneh-Saqqiz area for defensive purposes. The extent of con
cessions made to Azerbaijan has led to imitative demands from other parts of
Persia. Requests for provincial autonomy have been put forward in Khuzistan,
Pars, Isfahan and Kurdistan. In Khuzistan the movement was aggravated after
the strike at Abadan in which, as already described, Arabs were the victims
of Tudeh savagery. It subsequently found expression in appeals against Persian
tyranny to the Iraqi Government and to the Arab League.
Early in August a mutual defence pact was signed between the Bakhtiari
and Kashgai Khans aimed against the Tudeh Party, though professing loyalty
to the Government in Tehran. It became known during the middle of the month
that they were plotting to seize Isfahan and Shiraz to destroy the Tudeh
organisation in both centres and thus to forestall the possibility of a general
election which would in all probability put that party in power. At the beginning
of September the two joint Governors of Bakhtiari were summoned to Tehran
and His Majesty’s Consul at Isfahan reported that this certainly meant that the
tribal plans were known, that the seizure of Isfahan was unlikely to succeed as
the Bakhtiari, who had asked for British assistance, were almost without arms
and that it was doubtful whether the revolt would take place. One of the Khans
answered the summons and divulged the whole plot to Muzaffar Firuz, who then
told a press conference that Abul Qasim Khan Bakhtiari had all the time been
acting as a stool-pigeon for the Government and listening in to the conspiracy.
However this may be, Firuz fled to Isfahan and arrested the other Governor of
Bakhtiari and various members of his family. Martial law was declared in
Isfahan and there has been no more trouble there. Firuz extracted “ confessions ”
from certain of the persons arrested, which were alleged to implicate certain
British officials.
On the 31st August, martial law was proclaimed in Shiraz. Khosro Khan
Kashgai was called to Tehran by Firuz and was informed of the allegations of
Abul Qasim Khan. After the arrest of the Bakhtiari leaders, he was again
summoned to Isfahan, but his brother went instead and the Minister for Labour
threatened to send a force of Caucasians against the Kashgai. The tribes of
Fars, however, proceeded with their plans and on the 20th September it was