Coll 28/97(2) ‘Persia; Diaries. Tehran Intelligence summaries. No 1 to 50 of 1946.’ [‎4r] (7/292)

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SECRET -/‘Ti FiLr 'Wi \
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
PERSIA.
SECRET.
Witto r
January 25, 1946.
Und^r T r - • of Stftta
for 1 Affairs
Section 1.
A)
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[E 78i/3i5/3W
Copy No.
Military A ttache’s Intelligence Summary No. 2, Secret, for the yeriod
7th January to \3th January, 1946 .—[Communicated in Tehran Despatch
No. VI of the \5th January; Received i 15th January.)
Persian Affairs.
Political.
OPPOSITION to the Anglo-American proposal for the tripartite com
mission has increased during the past week. The Tudeh and others under
Russian influence, as was to be expected, showed their hostility, but attacks from
the so-called “ Right ” were no less bitter. The one constant factor in the
Persians unstable make-up, his vanity, was offended at the thought that others
could see anything needing reform in his administration. “ Unwarranted inter
ference,” “ a repetition of the 1907 agreement ” were phrases bandied about by
Dr. Musaddiq and others. The Cabinet has as yet come to no decision and if it
does not do so very soon it will certainly fall. A feeling (more in evidence among
the Deputies than among the Cabinet) that they have been abandoned by the
British and American Governments (whereas, in fact, it is they who have
abandoned the Anglo-American scheme without proposing any alternative) may
lead the Persians in their despair to incline more and more to appeasement of
the Russians and to the introduction as Prime Minister of Qawam-us-Saltaneh,
the Russian candidate. The Cabinet, it is believed, is now thinking less of direct
negotiations with the Azerbaijan National Government or with the Soviet
Government and more about an appeal to the Security Council of the United
Nations Organisation.
A zerbaijan.
2. His Majesty’s Acting Consul-General in Tabriz reports that the new
autonomous Government has revised the income tax law of 1943 and now demands
that the tax be paid in a lump sum instead of in instalments. The tax free
portion of income is said to have been fixed at 25 per cent.
3. Merchants’ goods, other than food-stuffs, may now be despatched to
Tehran on an undertaking by the owner that the proceeds of the sale will be
returned to Azerbaijan. The despatch of parcels and money to Tehran by post is
prohibited. All passengers to Tehran must obtain journey permits from the
“ Ministry of the Interior.” All baggage and correspondence is liable to
examination by the police.
4. A “ Friends of Soviet Azerbaijan ” Society has been formed, ostensibly
for strengthening cultural tics.
5. The Azerbaijan Government is overprinting Persian postage stamps with
the words “National Government of Azerbaijan, 21st Azar 1324.”
6. A notice was sent out by the Azerbaijan Government summoning all
democrats in Tabriz to appear at 6 a.m. on the 11th January. As those over
45 years of age were excluded it was thought and widely rumoured that this
foreshadowed some military move on the capital. The meeting was subsequently
postponed.
Gilan and Mazanderan.
7. A Persian press report mentions the fusion in these provinces of the
Tudeh, Democrat and Jangali parties. The revival, under Russian auspices, of
the last named is interesting, and recalls the exploits of the Jangalis under
Kuehik Khan in 1917, who, with Bolshevik backing, constituted a serious threat
to Persian and British interests in the Caspian region. A confidential report by
the Officer Commanding Gendarmerie Regiment of Mazanderan (Headquarters,
Sari), shown to the British Military Attach^ by a senior Persian officer at
Gendarmerie Headquarters in Tehran, gives some interesting facts about the
local situation. All Persian officials from the Governor downwards are under
[73—1811
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