ملف ١٩٢٨/٢٠٠ الجزء ٨ "المفاوضات الأنجلو-فارسية" [و‎‎١‎٦‎٢] (١٠٩٦/٣٢٨)

PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
IE 6149/3880/34J
Mr. Hoare to Sir John Simon.—{Received December 20.)
(No. 517.)
Sir, Tehran, December 3, 1932.
WITH reference to my telegram No. 201 of the 1st December, I have the
honour to transmit, herewith, a record of a conversation by the Acting Oriental
Secretary with Vossuk-ed-Dowleh this morning. Summarised translations of the
speeches mentioned by his Highness are to be found in my despatch No. 515
of to-day.
2. When I saw him two days ago, I was almost painfully impressed by the
frank bitterness with which he talked about the Shah’s avarice and despotism
and of the resultant misery, going so far as to say that if a Minister resigned office
he would run quite a serious risk of being thrown into prison. He had himself
held successively the portfolios of Finance and Justice under the Shah. At the
Ministry of Finance life was one long misery between the Shah’s appetite and
Dr. Millspaugh/s close-fistedness, and so he persuaded His Majesty to transfer
him to the Ministry of Justice; that office, however, proved even worse, as under
his very nose the Chief of Police organised murders and he was powerless to
prevent it. So he made his escape.
3. With regard to his Highness's theory that the Soviets are at the bottom
of the attack on the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and that Teymourtache has
worked in collusion with them, I # feel that it is essentially improbable if only
because all the indications which w T e have are that the decision was suddenly taken
almost immediately after His Majesty's return from his journey to South Persia,
on which Teymourtache did not accompany him; moreover, so far as I can learn,
Teymourtache s position is not so secure as to make it likely that he would embark
on so dangerous an adventure. I will, however, admit that one of the many stories
which is going the rounds is that the attack on the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
was a gambler’s fling by Teymourtache to restore his shattered credit with his
master. It is some time since I have seen him. I spoke to him on the telephone
last Monday to say that I heard that the town was to be decorated in honour of
the cancellation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company concession. For the first time
since I have known him he was in obvious haste to terminate the conversation.
This could, of course, be ascribed to a guilty conscience, but I am not sure that
that would trouble him, and I think it more probable that he was bored at having
to tell me things that events were about to reveal as glaring lies.
4. I am sending copies of this despatch to the Foreign Secretary to the
Government of India (No. 245), His Majesty’s Ambassador at Bagdad (No. 123).
the Hon. the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (No. 211), and the
Acting British Consul at Ahwaz (No. 88).
I have, &c.
R. H HOARE.
Enclosure in No. 1.
interview with His Highness Mirza Hassan Khan Vossuk {Vossuk-ed-Dowleh).
h ^ to see his Highness at his invitation this morning. He said that
when he had a talk with His Majesty's Minister on Thursday last he had not
se en the reports of the speeches in the Majlis on that day concerning the
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