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Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎288v] (576/644)

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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. .

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the Americans on account of our respective post-war interests in the Persian
market for these products. , ^ . i
99. The Middle East Supply Centre, Tehran, moved out of the Britisn
Legation in May and set up in separate offices as an Anglo-American )o y.
The staff nevertheless continued to be entirely British, for repeated efforts on our
part to find Americans to share the work (and the odium) and to tacilita e
co-operation with the American advisers and the Lease-Lend organisation me^
with no success, and American participation was limited to attendance at
committees and to the provision of an American room, which is usually empty, m
the Middle East Supply Centre building. In the middle of the year
Dr. Millspaugh’s Price Stabilisation Section, as part of its attack on high prices,
issued a number of regulations concerning imports which tended temporal i y to
discourage merchants and caused a diminution of activity ; but many ot
restrictions were later withdrawn and merchants’ imports of the goods that hac
not remained Government monopolies (e.g., cereals, sugar, tea and cotton piece-
goods) filled the available quotas. Co-operation between the Middle East Supply
Centre and the Millspaugh Mission, though tenuous at first, grew steadily,
thanks mainly to the initiative of the former, into a very close and constant
collaboration. . . , . ,
100. In the autumn clear signs of potential crisis during the winter
appeared, but energetic action all round has removed our worst fears. Owing to
low rates and poor control Government transport had become seriously
disorganised and the ability of the Road Transport Department to meet many
vital demands arising concurrently was seriously reduced, although at that time
the Government owned 900 recently arrived Lend-Lease trucks and had under
contract (on paper) about 1,000 other vehicles. Cereals collection and the
distribution of other essential goods were very seriously threatened by tins
prevailing lack of transport. Furthermore, the Government monopolies of sugar,
tea, cotton piece-goods and drugs were not operating, and in fact had resulted
merely in substantial stocks of these goods not readhing the public. On top oi all
this came the threat by Dr. Millspaugh and his entire mission to resign Happily
this was withdrawn in time for the mission to co-operate with the Anglo
American supply authorities in removing the worst features of the threatened
civil-supply crisis The Persia and Iraq Command and the Middle East b>upp y
Centre came to the rescue. The British army undertook to carry cereals for
Tehran from the west and oil from Kermanshah to Tabriz and from Shahrood
to Meshed; and arrangements were made for the seconding of Middle hast
Supply Centre officers to Persia to supervise cereals collection and civil road
transport. . . . , ^ , .,i
101. The year closed with the economic situation much steadier and with
prices showing a tendency to fall. The new Government formed in December
indicated a desire to work closely in economic matters with the British and
\merican Legations and the Middle East Supply Centre; the new Minister of
Commerce, Industry and Mines, General Shafai, even paid public tribute to the
help given in the past to Persian industry and trade by His Majesty’s Legation
and certain Middle East Supply Centre officers. . ^ ,
102 With the end of the war in sight many Tehran merchants began
thinking of re-establishing connexions with United Kingdom firms; and the
number of enquiries received by the Commercial Secretariat on this point
increased.
Industry.
103 Early in the vear an Industrial Development Committee was set up
under the segis of the Middle East Supply Centre, with Persian, British and
American participation. Its object was to promote local industry in order to
economise imports. This body was able to give substantial help to Persian
factories and it was mainly thanks to its efforts that the sugar-beet crop was
harvested and local sugar production maintained. Lack of transport hampered
industry throughout the year. Latterly, signs of labour unrest increased, but
direct Russian encouragement, though widely suspected, could not be proved.
Agriculture.
104 In the earlv spring the Persian Government asked the Allies for help
to provide seed for spring sowing. As a result, arrangements were made to import
•2 000 tons of sorghum (a variety of millet) from Iraq and an Anglo-Americam
Persian committee was set up to supervise distribution. Thanks to the work of
this committee a large part of the imported seed was sown, but the results,

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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
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Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎288v] (576/644), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3472A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x0000b1> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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