Coll 28/111 ‘Persia. Kermanshah – Political diaries.’ [‎40r] (80/751)

Uoxmi in T« 5 ftiran and a^aat th«ir «xiat^nc« bare* Oa#
eve ling at the uanal public broadcast oi British naas carriea
on uy thin Oousulate In a diaused hall here» some young taen
made earcaetie noises on he^rin^ ot our capture ol 4,CH)0 prison ere
in Egypt and another iiidividual applauaed at the ness ot the
fall of dostov. hiah iuterruptione {oust have been deliberate,
as the broadcast is not in an outdoor public place, and only
those who want to hear need do so*
raOiEAGAai-4*
lb* British propaganda here remains unsatisfactory* The
I ntlic Re1stions Bure&u ia Tehran is unfortunately restriated
to runixiag its inereasiiig provincial activities by correspondence
and the ioaaulata finds it uixficult to ma&e the most of these
unaided, except tor the loc&l uiatribution of printed matter
oi which there 1© still not enough* The oroanoaatin^ mentioned
above is by means of an old shabby email radio-set which can
hardly be he*rd In the back-rows of the hall, and therefore
cannot be used outdoors at all at the height of the summer*
Th^ ainema-van of which so much was hoped is a comparative
failure in the bauds of the two unskilled local youths who run
it; tfcu projector a^i>«ratue is old and worn-out, ar^d the films
so far sent from Oalro are anaisnt, brittle, patched and torn
to be*in with, and have little or no propa^anua value even amoug
the ignorant, x scheme was snuounasd for supplying local news
agents a* d statiemers regularly from Tehran with our propaganda
mugasi^ea ukic publications suras months ago, but next to n^e
have arrived, and xt is i*ei>orteu that the wholesale distributors
in Tehran to whom we hahd~over atocHs 01 material for sals in
the provinttas, aell them in the capital at a better ;rioe for
waste pn/'Cr and making paper-bags for shops*
16* Local feeling which had shown signs of improving in
i^ay and early gums towards us, har aietinctly coo A ed off under
raceiit Allied reverses, ‘moss who w^rs merely irieadly now
thin:, it more prudeikt to remain aloof while the Germans approach
thx Oaucasua daily, and cur enaniea exult nentioneu above.
It ^-.y be said however that the bstandar, Aralr-i-huil s^iovss
himsslf bravely at our olue as before «u,d dcclaree his undying
friendship for our o&uce, although auuiy nr^ibers of hi© inilue*>—
tial family ax'o kaown to be unfriendly towards us*
17. The nritish authorities are spsncUiig large sums in
improving the .Jutfiiqiii—HfiWiSdan road to facilitate the <juiCiC
transport of military supplies to Russia, but the Iranian cus
toms authorities ax, the frontier are reported intentionally to
etAU&c nii much delay to oui* supplies w®. .jossibic. Rot only oo
they insist on making full lists oi the British veblcxes 1 con
tents lsuch as the enemy no uoubt later can obtain;, bat they
kee .• trackc wafting fbr 4 or b hours in psttifsg^ ing customs
fommlities* Xt is curpritin^ that better facilities have
not bfcfeii obtained for purely military traxxic xrc»ft the central
authorities of en officially allied nation, arid the delays must
give much malicious pleasure to those of the customs oilicials
at Khosrovi who ore known from their utteraiices to be our 111-
wldbcrs ax-d so can indulge their spite in this um;ee&eaary manner.
\q 0 Ihe transport question beeemes more aiui more acute.
chlexly