Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [‎58v] (116/248)

6
to form a Cabinet, and after deliberation during the No Ruz holidays from the
21st March onwards Sa’ed announced his team as follows :—
Prime Minister : Muhammad Sa’id Maraghe’i.
Agriculture : Mahmud Fateh.
Commerce and Industry : Amanullah Ardalan.
Communications : Hamid Sayyah.
Education : Sarlashkar Ali Riazi. ^
Finance : Mahmud Nariman.
Foreign : Muhammad Sa’id Maraghe’i.
Interior : Abdul Hussein Hajhir.
Justice : Asadullah Hamaqani.
Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones : Abul Qasim Furuhar.
Health : Dr. Qasim Ghani.
War : Ibrahim Zand.
Without portfolio: Murteza Quli Bayat, Mustafa Adi.
35. i wo Ministers who were thought to be the nominees of the Shah, viz.,
Intizam and Moussa Moury-Esfandiary were thus dropped, though a third, Zand,
Minister tor War, remained. Two new names appear : Mahmoud Fateh and
Mahmoud Nariman; the former’s appointment was interpreted in some quarters
as a mark of the Shah’s appreciation of the opposition of Mustafa Fateh,
Mahmoud s brother, to Seyyid Zia. The latter was known as a young man of
intelligence possessing a sound knowledge of finance and able to speak English, a
great advantage in dealing with Dr. Millspaugh. At the end of March Sa’ed had
only announced his programme : he did not venture to present his Cabinet for
the Majlis s approval, as the Chamber showed itself divided and capricious : in
fact, at the end of the quarter it looked as if the Majlis would accept Sa’ed but
not his colleagues.
36. Three general remarks are worthy of notice in the political events of
this quarter. I he first is the fact that the Russians displayed great interest
m the internal affairs of the country. Evidence was forthcoming of their
intervention in the personnel of Soheily’s Cabinet of December 1943^ they had
objected to the inclusion of Tadayyun and Amir Ahmedi. They also supported
the Tudeh party with hardly a pretence of concealment, and in the intrigues
connected with the postponement of the opening of the Majlis on the
22nd January the Tudeh Deputies, after having strongly supported the opening
suddenly veered round to the opposite side on instructions from the Soviet Embassy.’
Then* opposition to Seyyid Zia Tabatabai also continued, in spite of the latter’s
eftorts to convince them that he was not anti-Russian. In the Tabriz elections
it was also evident that the Soviet authorities were insisting on the inclusion of
certain Communist candidates.
, p? 7 - . The se 9 ond general remark concerns the Shah. There has been a
definite increase in the anti-Shah feeling which was noticed in previous reports.
Ine ^hah s intervention in the army continued; he w r ent on issuing orders on
military matters without informing the Chief of the General Staff. His Majesty
made use of Dr Musaddiq to oppose Seyyid Zia. The Majlis showed that they
objected to the Shah s nominees in the Cabinet, his support of the candidature
ol a certain Muhit for Saqqiz, his interference in judicial proceedings, his
frequent changes of opinion, and his support of General Shafai, the Minister
of Commerce, when the latter accidentally killed a workman in the course of a
strike, were all the subject of adverse criticism.
Th 38 ’ i^e third remark, 18 the growth of the power of parties and unions.
The so-called fractions ’ in the Majlis had little programme and no cohesion;
A 1 t Tudeh j s P9 eac j lts influence in various parts of the country, notably
j 11 f nd P erha P s i? Abadan : various workers’ organisations, usually called
Ittihadieh i karagan appeared in some towns : Sevyid Zia also began'serious
preparations towards founding a brand-new party of' his own, by a process of
forming circles of progressive elements throughout the country.
qu n 9 ' Fu f th ^ revidence of popular determination to show detestation of Reza
Shah was afforded by the trial of various police officials in connexion with the
deaths of the Communist Dr Arani and the Zoroastrian Deputy Arbab
Tvei-Khosraw; one police doctor being sentenced to death and other officials to
terms of imprisonment,
, r 4n vr during the quarter the well-known leader of the Tudeh party, Suleiman
Mirza Muhsin Iskandari, died and was given an impressive funeral, some members
of the Soviet Embassy being present. memners