Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎252r] (503/644)

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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITAN NIC MAJESTTS GOV
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PEKSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
With the Co;
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8
May
7. 1941.
Under
for
See-
For
Section 1.
(16037)
[E 2014/42/34]
(No.
Sir,
37.)
Si?' R. Bullard to Mr. Eden.-
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CP, No^
{Received May 7.) ^
Tehran, February 21, 1941. v\Jv ^
IN accordance with the instructions contained in the Right Hon. Viscount
Halifax’s circular despatch of the 4th November, 1939, I have the honour to
transmit a political report on Iran for the year 1940. It is longer than I wished it
to be, but events affecting Iran last year were many and important.
2. I am sending copies of this despatch and of its enclosure to his Excellency
therViCPToy OfrTTIdtn, His Majesty’s Ambassadors in Cairo and Bagdad, and the
Middle East' Intelligence Centre, Cairo.
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Enclosure.
Annual Political Report for 1940.
BULLARD.
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THE Shah continues to be the mainspring of all activities. Unfortunately, as
he ages he becomes more greedy, more arrogant and remote, and more unpopular.
Apart from the public in general, who attribute to him the rise in the net cost of
living, there must now be a large class of malcontents whose lands have been bought
for the Shah, under pressure, at ruinously low prices. The Shah’s unpopularity
extends to his sons. The second—an impudent rake and a dangerous road-hog—
is the worst, but the Crown Prince commands no respect or affection. Whether
the Shah-believes the adulation served up to him in the local press is not known,
but it is known that his advisers are afraid to give him any unpleasant news.
There had been bread queues for months before any action was taken, and it is
probable that the shortage of flour in certain areas had been concealed from the
Shah. He sees no one but his Ministers and a few officials such as the Chief of
Police; no longer is he protected by that safety-valve, the public submission of
petitions to the throne, and he never sees the foreign representatives, to talk to.
except at the formal visits on first arrival and final departure. There is ample
evidence that Ministers habitually give the Shah hasty and optimistic reports of
foreign affairs, and, when these forecasts are not fulfilled, accuse the foreigners
concerned of going back upon their word. The Shah continues to be morbidly
sensitive to any reference in the foreign press that is not adulatory, and this led
during the year to protests to the American, Swedish and Swiss Legations, which
were all met with polite disclaimers of official responsibility.
2. A child was born to the Crown Prince on the 27th October. It was a
daughter, but, although that may have been disappointing to the Imperial family,
it is not likely to make any difference in the long run. for the chances that the
Pahlavi dynasty will maintain itself seem small.
3. Law and order seem to have deteriorated slightly. This has been notice
able chiefly in the tribal areas, and is mainly due to the general state of poverty
and to the depredations of the road guards. In Ears and Khuzistan, and to a
smaller extent in the Kermanshah area, there have been spasmodic outbursts of
banditry. There has been similar activity among the Baluchi tribesmen in the
Province of Kerman. A number of leading Bakhtiaris have been arrested, but
that is credibly attributed to German intrigues designed to stir up the Bakhtiaris
against the British in the oil area.
4. There are striking outward marks of the present regime in the growing
number of industrial enterprises and the extension of the railway. The Shah