Skip to item: of 644
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎265r] (529/644)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 file (320 folios). It was created in 6 Dec 1933-27 Mar 1947. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

supported by the Soviet authorities, who alleged that there was, in fact, no surplus
of wheat in Azerbaijan.
41. The Russians were naturally accused by the Persians of having political
designs upon the north of Persia, at least upon Azerbaijan, though it seems
^mlikely that the Soviet Government would decide to remain in occupation of
^iYzerbaijan at the end of the war, in violation of the pledges in the draft treaty,
when it would be just as easy to stir up trouble in Persia at any later time and to
find a humanitarian pretext for the spontaneous adhesion of Azerbaijan to the
Soviet Union. There was, in fact, litttle sign of any coherent Soviet policy.
In December the Turkish Ambassador stated that the Soviet Ambassador had
declared that even after the signature of the treaty, the Government would
continue to show particular interest in three questions : (1) the nationalisation of
the property of the late Shah, (2) a reduction in taxation, (3) the relaxation of
administrative centralisation. This statement seems to have been an echo of a
similar one which M, Smirnov made to the Prime Minister soon after the
occupation : on that occasion he also suggested that fresh elections ought to be
held—upon a broader and more representative basis. It is natural that the
Soviet Government should favour the retention by the Persian State of the lands
of the late Shah, as against the policy adopted of returning them to the^original,
owners. The third proposition might be held by the Persians to justify their
suspicion that the Soviet Government had encouraged a separatist movement in
Azerbaijan. That there was much talk in Tabriz against the Central
Government, after the occupation, is true, but it is equally true that the rich
province of Azerbaijan had always been—like other provinces—squeezed and
neglected, and that at the distant sound of the Russian approach almost all the
important Persian officials fled to Tehran, abandoning their offices and their
human charges with complete callousness. On the other hand, the Persian
Government make a good case: the Russians would not allow Persian troops to
go to Tabriz or Rezaieh; they disarmed the civil security forces and, when they
allowed them to be rearmed, limited their number; individual commissars
encouraged the use of Turki instead of Persian, and newspapers, films, plays and
concerts in Turki were provided under Soviet auspices; and, finally, a number
of Kurdish chiefs were invited—pressingly, in some cases—to pay a visit to
Baku. This visit was subsequently described by M. Molotov to Sir R, Bullard,
who saw him in Moscow when he went there to report to the Secretary of State,
as purely cultural, but it might well have aroused suspicion in more trustful
people than the Persians.
42. The Soviet Government profited by the occupation to increase very
considerably their consular representation in Persia. In October or November
they requested permission to establish consular posts at many places, including
Tabriz, Meshed and Resht in the north, and Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Isfahan,
KermanShah, Ahwaz and Khorramshahr in the south. The position for the pre
ceding few years had been that the Russians had one consul in Persia, at Enzeli,
while the Persians had one in Russia, at Baku. The Persian Government,
basing themselves on the principle of reciprocity in consular affairs, replied that
consular posts at Tabriz and Meshed might be opened provided that the Persian
Government was allowed to have consular posts at Tiflis and Ashkabad; and
that, as for the other places, the matter would be examined. The Soviet Govern
ment eventually said that they were prepared to agree in principle to the exten
sion of Persian consular representation in Russia, but not during the war; and
they appointed consular officers to Tabriz and Meshed, and then requested
authorisation for consular posts in what they described as the “ second group ”
of places, which included only two in the south, viz., Ahwaz and Kermanshah.
The Persian Government had to give way. The Foreign Office, while, like the
Government of India, apprehensive about the spread of Soviet influence in
Persia, decided that since we already had about a dozen consular posts in
Persia' when the Russians had had only one, it was for the Persians, not for us,
to counter the Russian demands by an appeal to the principle of reciprocity. By
the end of the year the Soviet Consulate at Kermanshah was being opened and a
representative of the Soviet Trade Delegation had appeared at Ahwaz.
43. Anglo-Soviet relations were—all things considered—quite good. His
Majesty’s Minister was fortunate in that, just at the beginning of the Russo-
German war, the Soviet Ambassador in Tehran, a railway engineer who had
never been known to make any but purely conventional remarks to any diplomatic

About this item

Content

Annual reports for Persia [Iran] produced by staff at the British Legation in Tehran. The reports were sent to the Foreign Office by HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. at Tehran (from 1943, Ambassador to Iran). The reports cover the following years: 1932 (ff 2-50); 1933 (ff 51-98); 1934 (ff 99-128); 1935 (ff 129-165); 1936 (ff 166-195); 1937 (ff 196-227); 1938 (ff 228-249); 1939 (ff 250-251); 1940 (ff 252-257); 1941 (ff 258-266); 1942 (ff 267-277); 1943 (ff 278-289); 1944 (ff 290-306); 1945 (ff 307-317); 1946 (ff 318-320).

The reports for 1932 to 1938 are comprehensive in nature (each containing their own table of contents), and cover: an introductory statement on affairs in Persia, with a focus on the Shah’s programme of modernisation across the country; an overview of foreign relations between Persia and other nations, including with the United Kingdom, British India, and Iraq; Persia’s involvement in international conventions and agreements, for example the League of Nations and the Slave Traffic Convention; British interests in or associated with Persia, including Bahrain and Bahrainis resident in Persia, the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. at Bushire, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Imperial Bank of Persia, and the Imperial and International Communications Company; political affairs in Persia, including court and officials, majlis, tribes and security; economic affairs in Persia (government finances and budgets, trade, industry, agriculture, opium production); communications (aviation, railways, roads); consular matters; military matters (army, navy, air force).

Reports from 1939 to 1946 are briefer in nature, Reports from 1941 onwards focusing on the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia, and the role of United States advisors in the Persian Government’s administration.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (320 folios)
Arrangement

The file’s reports are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. Each report for the years 1932-1938 begins with a table of contents referring to that report’s own printed pagination sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 321; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

The file contains one foliation anomaly, f 308A

Pagination: Each of the reports included in the file has its own printed pagination system, commencing at 1 on the first page of the report.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎265r] (529/644), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3472A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x000082> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x000082">Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [&lrm;265r] (529/644)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x000082">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/IOR_L_PS_12_3472A_0529.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image