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Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎309v] (620/644)

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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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38. Authority for the release of the thirteen Persians, who thus remained
interned in Pe.rsia, and of the five in detention abroad was issued on the
15th August upon the cessation of hostilities with Japan. In order, however,
to counter any claim to popular sympathy on the part of the Mullah Kasham,
one of the most prominent of the internees, who was expected also to prove one of
the most venomous on release, his correspondence with the Mufti of Jerusalem
and Rashid Ali was published in the local press. Nothing more was heard of^-,
him before the end of the year.
• • • - "V
Internal Politics.
39. The instability which was so marked in 1944 remained an outstanding
feature of the political life of the country during the year under review. The
Administration of Rayat, which was formed in November 1944, was already
showing signs of weakness, after only three months in office, and by the middle
of April 1945 the Prime Minister and his colleagues gave up the struggle to
maintain their position against factious opposition of the Majlis.
40. Bayat was succeeded by Hakimi, a deaf old gentleman who had played
no considerable part in Persian public life for many years. His Cabinet lasted
less than a month : he was ejected for no particular reason and replaced by
Sayed Mushin Sadr. M. Sadr at once found himself in difficulties, but he
refused to ask for a vote of confidence, leaving it to the Deputies to take the
initiative if they wished to get rid of him. The issue was not faced till almost
three months later, when the news from Azerbaijan aroused the patriotic feelings
of the Majlis and enabled M. Sadr to obtain a vote of confidence from them.
His majority soon proved, however, to be as unstable and ephemeral as those
of his predecessors, and a month later he was forced to resign. The chief feature
of his time was his attempt to prevent the Tudeh from stirring up violent
disorders. Political clubs and demonstrations were forbidden, and this earned
for him the usual titles of Fascist and Reactionary from the Tudeh and the
Russians.
41. The Majlis then reverted to Hakimi, who was still in office at the
end of the year. Nevertheless, by the middle of December it had become evident
that his Cabinet could not last much longer in spite of the changes which he
made in its members in the vain hope of silencing his critics and of appeasing
the Russians without alarming the British.
42. In this atmosphere of constant change and uncertainty, neither the
Government nor the Majlis accomplished much work of value. Some fifty draft
laws were brought before the House, but the great majority passed into oblivion
in the committees to which they were referred. No budget for the current
financial year was adopted, and the public services had to depend on small
periodic fractions of the budget for 1943, the last complete annual budget to
have been passed by the Persian Parliament.
43. In spite, therefore, of the crying need for reforms and planned develop
ment, and of the frequent assurances given by Ministers that these needs would
receive their urgent attention, nothing was achieved and the administration of
the country continued to deteriorate.
44. The only measures of note which were put in the State Book were the
laws for the Ratification of the United Nations Charter and the Bretton Woods
Agreement, the law for the increase of the establishment of the army by two
divisions and the law prohibiting the holding of the next general election until
after the withdrawal of all foreign troops.
45. The instability to which reference has been made is due to two main
causes. The first is the inherent fickleness and irresponsibility of most of the
Deputies, and the second the conflict of Russian and British influences. Of these
the former is apparently ineradicable, and the latter has for so long been a forceful
element in the political life of the country that its early elimination cannot be
hoped for. There is accordingly little prospect of good government for Persia
within any foreseeable time. Indeed, as the year closed, confusion and perplexity
were dominant, and few could see the way out of political chaos to stability
and reform.
Persian Press.
46. The arguments over the Russian demand for oil concessions at the
end of 1944 developed into a first major split in the Persian press the Freedom
Front representing the Russian point of view and the Left generally, and the

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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–’ [‎309v] (620/644), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3472A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056661170.0x000015> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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