Coll 28/97(1) ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries.’ [‎236v] (472/807)

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3. Iranian Navy.
(i) Reference Intelligence Summary No. 9 (current), paragraph 5 (in).
Errata: for £t Casaregis ” read " Carso.”
(ii) The Iranian firm of Namazi of Hong Kong are said to have bought two
ships and intend to run a service between the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the bar nas .
4. Iranian Army.
(i) One thousand Brno heavy machine-guns have been delivered in
They are said to have been part of the cargo of the Italian ship Caiso, w ic
arrived from Trieste at Bandar Shahpur on the 26th April. j t> v,*
(ii) On a recent tour no troops were observed between San and Kesnt on
the Caspian Littoral. One battalion is in camp on the Tehran-Kerej-Chains road
in the Muzzanabad-Baude area (degree sheet 8 P B3).
(iii) Sarhang (Colonel) Irawani is acting General Officer Commanding, loth
(Khurramabad) Division.
(iv) A new section of the General Staff, which deals with military
publications, has been formed.
(v) The location of the (Amnieh) gendarmerie eight regiments and sixteen
independent battalions is given in Appendix A to this summary.^)
(vi) Enquiries have been made recently through the Ministry of Finance
for the purchase of 30,000 gas masks complete.
(vii) The General Staff have issued orders to all commands that troops must
be alert and ready. Arrangements must be practised at once for the quick issue
of arms, ammunition and bombs.
(viii) An Iranian Order of Battle, given to the French Military Attache by
the Minister of War, is given as Appendix B to this summary.O
5. Italian Interests.
Thirty-nine Italians of military age have been concentrated in Tehran ready
to leave for Italy via U.S.S.R. should Italy enter the war.
6 . German Interests.
(i) The Deutsche Arbeitsfront Ortsgruppe of Tehran have rented a large
garden at Gulhek adjacent to the property of his Excellency the Kavam-ul-Mulk.
Physical training, &c., is regularly carried out there, as well as week-end walking-
tours in the mountains.
(ii) Since the outbreak of war the staff of the German Legation has increased
from about eight to thirty-four. A number of them are ex-officers or reserve
officers. German business houses in Tehran have also increased abnormally :
A.E.G., which usually has a staff of about thirty, is now seventy-three, and Messrs.
Schluter’s staff has grown from six to eighteen. Many of these men have very
little or nothing to do, so it is to be assumed that they form part of the German
Fifth Column in Iran.
(iii) It has been noticed recently that the Germans are cultivating the friend
ship of Iranians with whom they have contacts or business relations. Attempts
have also been made to get into touch with Iranians known to be against the
present regime. The German Military Attache unsuccessfully tried to get into
touch with one of the leading Bakhtiari Khans who compulsorily lives in Tehran.
(iv) On the 15th May forty-seven students of the school of art and handi
crafts left for Germany via U.S.S.R. These students will on return be employed
at the Kerej blast furnaces. In spite of protestations on the part of their parents,
these youths were compelled to go.
(v) Urgent despatches for the German Foreign Office are conveyed in a
special bag or bags within the diplomatic bags of the Italian Legation in
Tehran. The Italian courier car normally leaves Tehran fortnightly for Bagdad,
where the bags are handed over to the Ala Littoria Airways for conveyance to
Rome.
One of the Italian courier car drivers is Italian, the other Syrian; they
have orders not to stop anywhere en route.
(vi) Reference Intelligence Summary No. 9 (current), paragraph 9 (i). Major
von Geldern-Crespendorff paid brief visits to Senneh (Kurdistan) before visiting
Kermanshah, and after leaving the latter place he proceeded on reconnaissance to
Sultanabad (Arak).
(*) Not printed.