Coll 28/97(2) ‘Persia; Diaries. Tehran Intelligence summaries. No 1 to 50 of 1946.’ [‎21r] (41/292)

[75—146]
With th
^ n,
'*’rnsnts
— J ” J 'rjro-- - m * ' 1 ■ >nrir,, ' r| ^—
c//c a VI c/c^c- Qf f
...jor V ! ' "'; •'•; ;•“*' 12 APR 1946
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE ^OPERT^liF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
ev
PERSIA.
SECRET.
fc^T |9^-|
March 14, 1946.
Section 1.
E 2269/315/341
Copy No.
Military Attache's Intelligence Summary No. 9, Secret, for the Period
‘ 2bth February to Zrd March, -^(Communicated in Tehran
Despatch No. 60 of bth March; Received \Mh March.)
il /3
' l\ 9 (
± l a <J
Persian Affairs.
Political.
The 2nd March has gone, but the Russians have not. For some months past
there have been many who thought that they might not go. Ever since Qawam-
us-Saltaneh went to Moscow many more thought that they would not go. When
only a few days remained before the due date everybody realised that the) could
not go. The general feeling is that of blank despair. Some resentment is telt
at the Russian announcement to the effect that Qawam-us-Saltaneh was informed
as long ago as the 25th February that the evacuation would be limited to the
“ comparativelv tranquil areas of Semnan, Shahrud and Meshed, and that
Russian troops would remain in the remaining parts of their zone till the
“situation had clarified.’’ It was too much to hope that the Qawam would keep
his Government or the Majlis informed of the progress of the negotiations, but
they feel that information of such importance should have been communicated.
Adding insult to injury, the Qawam’s political private secretary, Muzaffar Firuz,
having 1 repeatedly warned the populace to listen-in to a forthcoming broadcast
of the greatest importance, announced “ as a piece of good news for the Persian
nation ’’ the beginning of the evacuation by the Russians of the three towns
mentioned above. ... , • • i e
2. In Persian circles, official or unofficial, in Tehran, nothing is known ot
the progress of the negotiations or even of their scope, since Qawam was allowed
to go to Moscow without any limiting directive from the Majlis. From a certain
source, however, it is learnt that the Russians appear to have made three demands,
viz. : (a) the recognition of the complete independence or autonomy of Azerbaijan,.
(b) the maintenance of Russian troops in North Persia after the 2nd March,
(c) an oil concession. The same source reports the Qawam as saying that he had
no authority to agree to these demands. A rumoured willingness on the part of
the Russians to waive (b) if (c) were granted will deceive but few, since the need
for protecting their newly-acquired oil interests in Persia would serve them as an
adequate pretext for bringing back their troops on to Persian soil.
3. It is believed that the possibility of the Shah using his constitutional
powers to dismiss the Qawam during the interval between this Majlis and the
next has not escaped the Russians and that they may take measures to forestall
this by bringing pressure to bear upon the Shah either to secure his submission
or possibly his abdication. Such measures would suit the book of such as
Muzaffar Firuz and his uncle, Muhammad Husein Firuz, who bear an implacable
hatred towards the Pahlevi dynasty.
4. A general purge of all Ministries is being carried out. Those with anti-
Tudeh sympathies are, in general, being dismissed, but members of Seyyid Zia’s
Iradeh-i Milli party, in particular, are singled out for expulsion.
Internal Security.
GHan.
5. A band of armed democrat insurgents marched during the past week
from Astara on Pahlevi. According to the latest information, based on press
reports, after having taken Karganrud and Shifarud, they are now about
30 kilom. from Pahlevi. The band is said to number about 600, to be armed with
rifles, machine guns and a field gun and to have started their march from Russian
Astara.