Coll 28/65 ‘Persia. Perso-Soviet Commercial Relations.’ [‎237v] (475/482)

the execution of orders already given—but his absence must have been keenly felt
when the Council of Ministers met on the 'ind January m the presence ol the
Shah to discuss the situation. , , . , . •
6. It was finally agreed, according to my informant that instructions
should be telegraphed to local Governors to take no part in the boycott, the oltieia
attitude of the Government being a neutral one, and at the same time (one
imagines) to exert a restraining influence on the merchants, t eroughi and
Yassai were also detailed to interview the Russian trade representative, showing
themselves conciliatory, but to give ground slowly in an endeavour to save t e
Persian Government's prestige and obtain all possible concessions. lh ls P°
was, very possibly, laid down by Teymourtache, who must have foreseen the
result of the boycott he advocated with a view to bringing matters to a head.
The shadow of the Minister of Court still hangs over the Cabinet.
7. A report which reached the Legation subsequently was to the effect that
this interview, which took place on the 3rd January, proved most satisfactory, the
Persians telegraphing to Resht to put an end to the boycott in its active and
aggressive form—although the merchants are presumably still expected to retrain
from dealing with the Russians individually -while the latter wiied instiactions
to Baku to send a boat to pick up the Shah’s rice! It is also rumoured that the
main Persian desideratum has already been secured : the Russians having agieec
to guarantee an annual purchase of certain minimum quantities of Peisian nee,
cotton and dried fruits at stipulated prices. Nothing, however, is said of the
Russian willingness to abstain from buying the other Persian products which
they have formed the habit of marketing outside Russia.
8. The Persian idea that a clearing-house—to be organised perhaps by the
National Bank—should be formed to handle all Russo-Persian trade exchanges
has also been the subject of discussion, but it seems that the Russian trade
representative has raised certain practical objections which the Persian autho
rities themselves recognise as cogent. The latter, in any case, are very hopeful
'that a new agreement will be reached with the Russians be tore the end of
January. What part the Iran Trading Corporation will play in it, if any, it is
impossible at this stage to predict.
9. I attach a note by the commercial secretary which deals with the conflict
ing Persian and Russian views of the trade balance between the two countries.
10. I am sending copies of this despatch to His Majesty’s Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Department of Overseas Trade
(No. O.f (B) 4). the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India (No. 6), and
to His Majesty’s Ambassador at Bagdad (No. 3).
I have, &c.
R R HO ART.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Memorandum respecting Rmso-Pcrsian Trade Differences.
(Confidential.)
I HEAR from a confidential and reliable source that the Russians, a few
days prior to the Minister of Court’s dismissal on the 24th December, were given
import licences to the substantial value of 70 million rials (say, €700,000). This
seemed surprising in view of the declaration made to me by the Director of the
Department of Commerce on my return from leave (my memorandum of the
17th November forwarded to the Foreign Office under Planted Letter No. 491,
paragraph 5) that the Russians would obtain no more licences until they had
settled outstanding accounts, and the more so when the news came in of the
boycott of Russian commercial organisations in Gilan, which set in on the
22nd December. One can only assume that this boycott being intended to secure
certain concessions from the Russians, the Persians wished to emphasise the fact
that they could be pleasant in other directions when they felt so inclined.
These import licences were applied mainly to prints, voiles and muslins
(quota No. 15), cotton thread, leather, drugs, oil paints, candles, glassware, paper,
eardboard, galoshes and linoleum—thereby exhausting the quotas in respect of
these commodities set aside for the Russians.