Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [‎69r] (137/248)

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being still the subject of a wrangle between the Russians and the Persian
Government as to accommodation, with a more fundamental but at first
unacknowledged dispute as to whether the suspects should be transferred at all.
The conclusion of the examination by the Anglo-Persian commission revealed
to the remaining suspects that they were the prisoners not of the British but
of the Russians, and while this diverted criticism from His Majesty’s Govern-
^rient, it also raised such a howl of terror from the suspects affected and from
.aeir friends, that the Persian Government eventually instructed their
ambassador in Moscow to ask that the suspects should be examined by a Russo-
Persian commission at Sultanabad (a procedure which we had always stated our
readiness to accept) instead of being sent to Resht in the Russian zone. The
delay was so unreasonable that His Majesty’s Minister had to speak to the Prime
Minister in the strongest terms, asking why he was so solicitous of the feelings
of a group of Persians who are accused of plotting against the Allies and against
the State and so indifferent to the interests of His Majesty’s Government, and
warning him that the enquiry into the conduct of the suspects on our list would
be suspended until the suspects on the Russian list were removed from Sultanabad
or their examination at Sultanabad by a Russo-Persian commission began. In
point of fact, the examination of evidence by the British security authorities
continued, but their projected meeting with the Persian commissioners with a
view to the production of a joint report was cancelled and the prospect of release
for the less guilty of the suspects was delayed. This does not matter to us now
as there no longer seems any risk that the Russians will release their suspects.
On the contrary, the Soviet Embassy seems to have become more intransigent
though there are indications that it is not the plot against the Allies that "they
are after so much as evidence of Armenian or Caucasian activities.
Economics and Finance.
21. There has been no marked improvement in the general economic
situation but there are grounds for hope that the collections of cereals and other
crops will be in excess of last year.
22 The slight weakening in wholesale prices which was .evident in
November was not maintained m the following month. The wholesale orice
index, which stood at 669 in October, fell to 651 in November, but rose to 665
? n ‘ he 2 w d De 1 ceral f r - Similarly, the cost of living index in Tehran fell to
T054 in NWrnber, from 1,088 the previous month, only to increase to 1,076 in
December The regular arrival of goods by rail from the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ports
was largely responsible for the temporary lowering of prices.
, ... ( ''[ rr ency notes in circulation rose between the 23rd October and the
i December, 1943, by 280-90 million rials to 5,195-07 million rials This
compares with a rise of 527 million rials between August and October and
although the continued need for “ new money ” must be considered serious this
satisfactory. Urm ^ PaSt tW ° m ° nthS 111 the rati ° ° f increase is
Gold sales in the open market on behalf of His Maiestv’s Governmern
«"es> m the form of Persian pahlavis and 5-tola gold barTon the
.inil, llcremhei, 1943, the price of the pahlavi was 590 rials? and the 5-tola bar
fin^on' l Um,g 1 the five we ® ks ended the 30th December gold sales realised
£lfs; 5°) pel-VelnTr 3t "" pnCe ° f 2 ’ 358 ria,s ( about
Civil Supplies (including Cereals).
a , - 24 : Th « tea Pfition is satisfactory. Stocks are adequate, and purchases
?? alnst quotas m India are proceeding. Merchants, who had tea lying at
Nokkundi have now been instructed to rail their stocks to the customs at ZahTdan
b\ the 1 st January, 1944 where the Government will take over all tea which is
fit for consumption at a fixed price. wmcn 18
25 Stocks of sugar are also adequate. The collection of the sugar beet
arvest is proceeding very much more satisfactorily than had been expected
animal transport being extensively employed. Up to the 31st December 125 )< o
tons of beet had been collected-78,000 tons had. been consumed and 12 500 tons of
sugar had been refined. It is hoped to collect another 80,000 or IS WO tons
22hOO tons ^ t0tal Pr0duCti ° n ° f SU - ar for 1943-44 ehmp7ign to
,, 26 ’ T !y s ‘“' k \p cotton piece-goods held in the country by the Iranian
Government Cotton Monopoly are given as 28,520 bales. It is probable, however,