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Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [19v] (38/248)
The record is made up of 1 file (122 folios). It was created in 21 Jun 1942-15 Mar 1946. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
28. He was succeeded by Seyyid Muhsin Sadr (Sadr ul Ashraf) who was
chosen as Prime Minister by the Majlis with sixty votes, and was charged on the
6th June, by the Shah with the formation of a Government. Sadr was, however,
like his predecessor, soon in difficulties with the Deputies over the selection of his
ministers, particularly the Minister of the Interior, who is able to exert great
influence in the elections. Nevertheless, on the 12th June, he presented his
Cabinet, composed as follows, to the Shah :— ^
Prime Minister and Minister of Interior : Seyyid Muhsin badr (Sadi
ul Ashraf).
Finance: Mahmud Bader.
Justice: Amanullah Ardalan.
Industry and Mines : Abbas Quli Gulshayan.
Health : Dr. Sa’ed Malek (Lughman ul Mulk).
Posts and Telegraphs : Ahmad Itebar.
War : Ibrahim Zand.
Foreign Affairs : Anushirvan Sipahbudi.
Agriculture : Dr. Nakhai.
Education : Ghulam Hussein Rahnema.
Minister without Portfolio : Mustafa Adi (Mansur es Sultaneh).
Minister without Portfolio : Hussein Ali Kemal Hedayat (Nasr ul Mulk).
All the new ministers had previously held Cabinet rank, and five of them, the
Ministers of War, Foreign Affairs and Education, and the two Ministers without
Portfolio were in previous Cabinet.
29. The eight Tudeh Deputies immediately declared themselves opposed to
Sadr. Some thirty others also went into Opposition. They were mostly
Deputies from the North, who though at heart anti-Tudeh, vote with them from
fear. Dr. Musaddiq and his personal following were also among Sadr’s most
bitter opponents. All the Opposition Deputies announced their intention of
obstructing the Government by all means in their power. The Shah was also said
to be against Sadr, and it was probably due to His Majesty’s influence that two
members of the Cabinet, Itebar and Ardalan resigned within a few days.
Ardalan was subsequently replaced as Minister of Justice by Ali Kemal Hedayat,
one of the Ministers without Portfolio. The Shah’s opposition was believed to be
due mainly to his annoyance with the Majlis for rejecting Hakimi’s Cabinet,
which included some ministers of His Majesty’s choice.
30. All the newspapers under Russian influence immediately opened a
vigorous campaign against the new Prime Minister, raking up the history of
nearly forty years ago to accuse him of persecuting “ the freedom-lovers during
the dawn of the Persian Constitution,” and declaring that he had always been a
hardened reactionary. Although representatives of the pro-Government majority
and of the Opposition met frequently during the next two weeks to try and find
some way out of the crisis, they were unable to come to any agreement, and the
minority maintained its attitude of obstruction. Whenever Sadr attempted to
present his Cabinet to the Majlis the minority refused to attend, with the result
that there was never the quorum required for a vote to be taken. On the 28th June
prolonged discussions took place between the two opposing groups in the Majlis.
The minority proposed that Sadr should resign, in which case they would be
prepared to co-operate with the majority in the choice of a new Prime Minister
and Cabinet. But the majority refused; and the deadlock continued. In an
attempt to put an end to the crisis the Shah received representatives of the
majority and of the minority, and urged them to do their utmost to find a solution
without delay. But no solution was found and Sadr had not received a vote of
confidence by the end of June.
31. There was a good deal of activity among the various political parties
and the labour movements during the period under review. The order forbidding
political demonstrations in Tehran was suspended for the 1st May in order to
allow the (Soviet sponsored) Tudeh party to hold a procession in honour of the
Red army. Some 5,000 people, mostly Armenians, Turks from Azerbaijan and
refugees from the Caucasus took part in the demonstration, which was perfectly
orderly. Similar May-Day demonstrations were held in all the main towns in
Northern Persia and in Kermanshah and Hamadan. In Meshed the celebrations
lasted for two days, and mounted Russian officers and about eighty soldiers with
tommy-guns were on duty in the streets to protect the Tudeh party members. On
the 18th May the Adalat party, which advocates a policy of reform by persuasion,
and which is opposed to the Tudeh because of its Russian connexion, staged a
About this item
- Content
This file consists of miscellaneous dispatches relating to internal affairs in Persia [Iran] during the occupation of the country by British and Soviet troops. The file begins with references to an Anglo-Soviet-Persian Treaty of Alliance, signed in January 1942, which followed the Anglo-Soviet invasion of the country in August-September 1941.
Most of the dispatches are addressed by His Majesty's Minister (later Ambassador) at Tehran (Sir Reader William Bullard) to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden). The dispatches discuss political, financial and economic affairs in Persia, as well as issues regarding road and rail transport (for the transportation of foodstuffs), food supplies and press censorship,
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- British concerns regarding the extent and effect of Axis propaganda in Persia and the Persian Government's response to it.
- Relations between the Shah [Muhammad Reza Khan] and successive Persian prime ministers, and the power and influence of the Majlis deputies.
- Anglo-Persian relations, and British concerns regarding Soviet policy in Persia.
- The Persian press's response to the Allied occupation.
- The Tehran conference in late November 1943, attended by Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D Roosevelt, who were also present at a dinner at the British Legation, held in celebration of Churchill's 69th birthday (also discussed is the naming of three streets in Tehran, after Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt respectively).
- The tribal situation in Persia.
- The raising of the status of the British Legation in Tehran to that of British Embassy in February 1943.
- The United States' interests in Persia.
- The status of Polish evacuees in Persia.
- The work of the British Council in Persia.
- The question of the withdrawal of Allied troops from Persia.
The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (122 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 124; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/564
- Title
- Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:8v, 10r:123v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence