Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎53v] (106/644)

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19. There were, of course, many other difficulties, but difficulties are
endemic in Persia, and after the release of Mr. Townshend-Smith His Majesty’s
orders are rendered inevitable by the need for keeping Persians from consorting
with the Soviet Embassy, and by the impossibility of making distinctions
between one foreign mission and another. At any rate, whether the persons
concerned were obeying orders or merely making intelligent guesses about the
Shah’s opinions, there can be no doubt that during the opening months of 1933
scarcely any Persian who was not either high up in the Administration or else a ^
member of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs felt able to accept invitations to
foreign houses.
15. The immediate occasion for these orders is not entirely clear, though
it probably had some connexion with Teymourtache, apprehension as to what
his relations with Soviet Embassy might have been, and even greater apprehension
as to what the foreign colonies generally might be saying about his downfall
But it is almost certain that there had also existed at one time a lively fear of
what His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom might do as a result
of the oil dispute, and that this engendered a deep suspicion of all things
British, which outlasted the motive from which it arose. this suspicion
manifested itself in many ways, but particularly in the difficulties placed in the
way of the innocent wanderings of Sir Aurel Stein in South Persia, and the
sudden cessation in February of all intercourse between His Majesty’s consulate
at Shiraz and local Persian society, Shiraz having been until then the one town
in Persia where social contacts could still be freely made. Then came the arrest
of a Persian named Rashidi, who had for the last twenty years paid regular
visits to the oriental secretary of the day in order to retail the gossip of the
bazaars. There can be no doubt that Rashidi (who was still in prison at the end
of the year) was arrested because of these visits, although this has been
strenuously denied by every Persian official, except the chief of police, with whom
the question has been discussed. The arrests of Mr. Townshend-Smith and
Mr. Parsons, mentioned below, were probably the outcome of the same state
of mind.
16. The conclusion of the oil agreement, however, completely changed the
atmosphere, and, at the King’s birthday reception, an unusually large number of
Persians were present, despite the fact that the reception was held at Gulhek.
Thereafter, although it cannot be said that anything like free social intercourse
existed between Persians and foreigners, the position was at least no worse than
it had been during the past three or four years, and there it remained until the
Bakhtiari arrests in November once against created an atmosphere of panic.
17. When His Majesty’s Minister asked for the audience which took place
on the 3rd June, only two major questions, apart from those connected with
the general treaty, were outstanding. Of these two questions, both of which
are dealt with in greater detail elsewhere, the first was an announcement by the
Minister of Finance that the Imperial Bank of Persia would not in future
receive the customs franchise to which their concession entitled them. His
Majesty’s Minister told the Minister for Foreign Affairs that he intended at
need to raise the question with the Shah; this sufficed to convince the Minister
of the bad impression which such an announcement, made while the ink on the
Oil Agreement was still wet, was bound to produce on His Majesty’s Government,
and it was withdrawn the day before the audience.
18. The second question was the arrest of two British subjects,
Mr. Townshend-Smith and Mr. Parsons, on charges of espionage. Soon after
the audience the Minister for Foreign Affairs told His Majesty’s Charge
d’Affaires that, in the interests of good relations, he desired to dispose of these
two cases in a friendly manner. That of Mr. Parsons was simple, since no
evidence had been found to support the charge, and Mr. Parsons, who was
already on bail, would not be prosecuted. That of Mr. Townshend-Smith was
more difficult, since, he alleged, ample evidence for a conviction existed; but, in
view of the damage that a trial would do to Anglo-Persian relations, he would
not be tried, but deported. Mr. Townshend-Smith was subsequently set at
liberty, though the threat of expulsion remained hanging over his head until
the end of the year.