Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎231r] (461/749)

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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
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ff^EBSIA.
SliCRET.
Uiidei'
tor
Of
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of State
December 4, 1944.
Section 1.
[E 7406/422/34]
Sir R. Bullard to Mr. Eden.—{Received 4 th December )
(No. 447.) ;
HIS Majesty’s representative presents his compliments to His Majesty’s
Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and has’the honour to transmit
herewith a copy of Intelligence Summary No. 44 for the period the
13th November to the 19th November, 1944. compiled by the militarv attache to
this legation.
Tehran, 2(PA November. 1944. Clo^\jcd( ocr>
Enclosure.
Military Attache's Intelligence Summary No. 44, Secret, for the 'period
13M November to l§th November, 1944.
Persian Affairs.
Political.
1. Persia is still without a Government. The Persians take a childish
delight in any such “ grown up ” disease as a political crisis. Being indivi
dualists without loyalty, discipline or cohesion they are loth to sink their
differences, fix upon a common policy and elect leaders to carry out that policy.
The Majlis has met in secret or open session almost daily. A Bill to except
Dr. Musaddiq (if elected as Prime Minister) from the provisions of the consti
tutional laws and to preserve his parliamentary seat against the time when he
might resign from the premiership was defeated by 64 votes out of 91 cast. At
subsequent meetings of the Majlis groups on the 15th November, Hussein Samii,
Adib-us-Saltaneh (F.0.199; M.A. 254) was nominated by the Mihan group;
Murteza Quli Bayat (Saham-us-Sultan), F.O. 47; M.A. 65, by the Ittehad i Milli
group, and Sadiq Sadiqi (Mushtasha-ud-Dowleh), F.O. 193; M.A. 248, by the
Azadi group. The Independents, after some discussion with the other groups,
finally advanced three names as candidates for the premiership, Hassan Isfandiari
(Muhtashim-us-Saltaneh), F.O. 99; M.A. 125, Sadiq Sadiqi and Samii (Adib-us-
Saltaneh). They were subsequently asked to reduce the number of their candi
dates to two. Nothing original in the way of a policy or vigour in carrying
- it out can be expected from any of the above and the ideas in the minds of the
majority of Deputies are probably that after the recent deterioration of Perso-
Soviet relations it is essential to choose a Prime Minister who, though he will
not give the Russians their concession, will at least not irritate them further
nor be a target for their personal animosity as Sa’ed was, and that as long as
the war lasts and foreign troops on Persian soil prevent the Persians from being
complete masters of their own house no strongly nationalistic policy or vigorous'
Prime Minister is indicated or indeed advisable.
2. The Russian-sponsored newspapers and the Freedom Front press have
kept up their attacks on Sa’ed, blaming his policy for embittering Perso-Soviet
relations, his “ Fascist " Government for suppressing certain of the Tudeh group
of newspapers and for oppressive action against Tudeh demonstrators. & This
Persian habit of kicking a man when he is down or continuing to revile him
after he has resigned office suits the Russian book as they hope to obscure their
recent defeat over the oil concession by a more concentrated attack on Sa’ed for
his mistaken policy and past misdeeds which, thev claim, are leadino- the country
to ruin. ^ J
3. A further Tudeh demonstration on the 17th November on a small scale
and unescorted by Russian troops, was stopped and dispersed by Persian police
[60—40 ] *