Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎146v] (292/644)

36
(10) Legation Property.
239. It took His Majesty’s Legation the whole year to convince the
Municipality of Tehran that they could not expropriate Legation piopei y in
the same way as they acquired the property of private persons, giving on y
derisory compensation in exchange, and that the Legation would not give up e ^
land required for their street-widening schemes except on paymen 0 6
rebuilding and other expenses and of a modest price for the actual land ce e .
240. As it seemed highly improbable that the Legation would ever succeed
in obtaining, except perhaps at the cost of endless friction, the 120 rials w ic
was the price asked for the land per square metre, they sought, and obtained,
authority from His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom early m the
year to reduce the price, if necessary, to 60 rials, provided that the municipa i y
would agree to all their other terms. (The actual commercial value oi the land
may be taken as being 240 rials.) This reduction in price was not, however
communicated to the municipality at the time, but the latter were merely told
that the question of the price of the land could not be discussed fuithei u^hd
they had agreed to defray all expenses on account of rebuilding, &c. ihe
municipality’s first written offer, received in April, was that th e y would P^y
150,000 rials as a lump sum to cover everything; their subsequent offers steadily
improved, and the position at the end of the year was that the Legation were
awaiting written confirmation of an offer of 724,970 rials (about £8,000 at the
then rate of exchange) on condition that they would rebuild the outer wall at
their own expense.
241. This offer His Majesty’s Minister was in a position to accept, as the
above sum represented the price originally asked, less the reduction in the price
of the land, and as he had received authorisation to make a final concession over
the rebuilding of the wall.
(11) Consular Affairs.
(a) Mails. K
242. The direct courier service between Delhi and His Majesty s consulates
in East Iran via Quetta and Zahidan worked smoothly throughout the year. The
Ministry for Foreign Affairs stated in January that the local authorities
concerned had been instructed to grant courier’s visas to messengers carrying
mail to the Foreign and Political Department, and a further difficulty which
arose out of the fact that different couriers carried the mail in stages was solved
when the Iranian consul-general in Delhi was authorised by his Government to
issue courier’s visas on which the name and number of the passport of the courier
did not occur.
(b) Closure of His Majesty's Vice-Consulate at Resht.
243. The death in April of the munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. raised as an immediate issue the
future of the vice-consulate at Resht. The post had been unfilled for over two
years, but the munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. had addressed periodical reports to His Majesty’s
Legation, and the system had been found to work well enough. But whereas no
difficulties had arisen so long as the munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. was an old and trusted Government
servant, it was felt that it would not now be possible to engage a new munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf.
who would be able to perform the same services. The alternatives of appointing
a new vice-consul and reopening the post, or of closing the post altogether, were
then considered, and His Majesty’s Minister finally recommended the definite
closure of the post on the ground that there seemed at present no real need for a
consulate in the Caspian area. His recommendation was approved and he was
later instructed to take steps to dispose of the property.
t
(c) Consular Reorganisation.
244. Early in the year the Iranian Government signified their agreement
to the amalgamation of the Isfahan and Shiraz consular districts. *
245. Owing to this and similar amalgamations which had taken place in
previous years, and in consequence also of the reorganisation of the administrative
divisions of the country, an attempt was made during the year to redefine all
consular districts so as to cover the whole country. A complete list was therefore
communicated to the Iranian Government in July for their approval. No definite
reply to this note had, however, been received by the end of the year.