Coll 28/39 ‘Persia: Printed Correspondence 1929-1936’ [‎240v] (491/1174)

3. The latter have, it appears, been negotiating for some time with various
foreign news agencies with a view to the reception of their services by the
Pahlevi wireless station and their distribution to the Persian press. The
Minister for Foreign Affairs himself has since told me that the Persian Govern
ment had bought lie liter’s code and had also come to an agreement with Havas
and Nauen : tney had not yet settled anything with Tass. He could not give
me any clear explanation of the motives underlying this step. The news about
the agreement with Reuters came as a complete surprise to Reuters agent in
Tehran, but he has since telegraphed to London and been told that it is correct.
The German Minister, on the other hand, is sceptical about any agreement
having been come to with Nauen ; he says that some months ago he supplied
the Persian Government, at their request, with various details sucli as the wave
length on which the Nauen service is broadcast, its cost, etc., but that
since then he has heard nothing more.
4. The editors of the Tehran newspapers, including the “ Messager de
Teheran ” had heard nothing of the new proposals up to the time of Mirza All
Khan Motamedi’s visit to Mr. Mallet. Some days later, however, they were
summoned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and told that as from Sunday,
April 15th, Reuters news would be delivered free to the press. This announce
ment had been preceded by an experimental period of about a fortnight during
which the Reuter service had been taken down at the Pahlevi wireless station
and the experiment had proved satisfactory. German and other foreign wire
less services would soon be distributed in a similar manner. At the same time
the intention of the Government to form a national news agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. to be called
the “ Pars Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ” was made public (I understand that Teymourtache investi
gated the possibilities of such a scheme some years ago, but that it was shelved
for financial reasons). In informing its readers of these new arrangements the
“ Ettela’at ” stated that the Reuter news received from the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs would be published under the heading “ Reuters Telegraphic News ”
and explained that the news items which had hitherto been published under
this heading were not really Reuters at all, but “ British News ”. The British
official wireless service is in fact commonly called “ Reuters ” in Tehran, being-
confused with the real Reuters service which was distributed up to the departure
of the Indo-European Telegraph Department in March 1931.
5. The editor of the “ Messager de Teheran ” states that since this interview
he has in fact received the Reuter news, but that the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, although they are supposed to hold the code, do not decode the news
before distributing it. It is in consequence of little use to him and for the pre
sent he is continuing to publish “ British News ”. He adds that unlike
*• British News ”, the Reuter service is sent to him without any preliminary
editing and that its abbreviated telegraphic language renders it singularly
difficult to translate or even to publish, few Persian journalists having any ready
command of English.
6. The Minister for Foreign Affairs assured me that Reuters and the other
foreign wireless services would not be censored, but no one that I have yet
met believes this.
7. The existing arrangements for the reception and distribution of the
British official wireless service are contained in my despatch No. 215 of May
4th, 1933. The other Missions which make arrangements for the reception of
news services from their own countries are the Soviet Embassy and the French
and German Legations. The Soviet and French news is published, like the
British, in the ” Messager de Teheran ”, the former being translated into
French. The German news, owing to the refusal of the editor to publish it in the
original German is only distributed to the German colony. Excerpts from the
German news are published in French in the “ Sitareh-i-Jehan ” and in Persian
in the “ Ettela’at
8. Until further developments occur I propose to continue the existing
distribution of “ British News ”. This is also the intention of my German
colleague.
9. Personally, I cannot see how the Persian Government can prevent a
foreign mission from distributing news received by wireless to any persons they
choose, unless they put a stop to the use of private receiving sets altogether.
1 he receiving sets in the Embassies and Legations are no different in essence
from the “ Radios-concert ” which the Persian authorities regard as harmless :
any owner of a private set can pick up the British official wireless or other
foreign services for himself, provided he is a fluent reader of morse and is