Coll 30/9(2) 'Admin. Reports of the Persian Gulf - 1945 -' [‎518v] (1036/1148)

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CHAPTER III.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND CONDITIONS IN THE SHIRAZ CONSULAR
DISTRICT FOR THE YEAR 1940.
1 . General. —The year was one of increasing hardship and discontent, due partly
to the effects of the European War on Iran, and partly to continuation and intensi
fication of the general trend of recent political and economic affairs inside Iran.
Public works, where personally profitable to officials, were actively carried on,
but those of a kind to benefit only the country generally were neglected. Security
in Ears degenerated, but remained good elsewhere in the district. Trade dimi
nished, but commercial exchanges with Germany, particularly via Batum, conti
nued. Russian commercial relations failed to develop to the expected extent.
British trade remained very small. The British Consulate, Shiraz, was more
strictly boycotted towards the end of the year.
2 . Attitude of the public to the regime. —Criticism of the present regime became
unprecedentedly outspoken, and the view that Britain was responsible for the
misdeeds of the Shah and his Government was freely expressed. General sympathy
with disturbers of the peace was expressed on the grounds that “ the robbers were
hungry ”. Attacks were made against the Amnieh partly for the sake of stealing
their arms, partly to pay off old scores ; bandits also payed particular attention
to the monopolistic Sherkat-i-Rosta’s village shops. The ban on the cultivation,
of rice outside North Iran, which had been made in the interests of the Imperial
rice fields in the north, was the subject of a petition to the Queen on her visit to
Shiraz in April, and was only partially successful ; the price of northern rice in
Southern Iran is naturally higher than that of the local produce, and since the
wheat crops were affected by drought, the need for rice was greater. The Bakh-
tiaries, and people of Lenjan, had an identical grievance, without the favour of
any such concession as the rice-growers of Fars received. The Armenian minority,
too, had its own particular grievance, namely, their exclusion from the best jobs
in the Public Services and the Oil Company and the Iranisation of the Armenian
schools. The poor of all classes and creeds had a general grievance in the ever-
increasing rapacity of corrupt officials, the poor quality of the bread, and the ever-
rising prices of necessities.
3. Attitude of the public to the war. —Russia’s jamming of the Ankara Persian
broadcasts left Germany without effective competition on the air during the first
half of the year. At the same time the Germans inside Iran were particularly
active until the fall of Matin Daftary, the pro-German Prime Minister. These
advantages, combined with the German victories in Europe, produced an over
whelming reaction in favour of Germany, which has only quite lately been modified
by the renewed audibility of the Ankara broadcasts, the tardy but successful
low-wave broadcasts from London and Delhi, and, above all, the British and Greek
military successes in the Mediterranean arena. German activities produced a
specially remarkable reaction in Isfahan, most of whose factories are German-
built and whose merchants have profitable commercial relations with Germany.
However, about mid-summer, the tension subsided, though a strong pro-German
prejudice persisted. Persians make a clear distinction between the Germans
and the Italians, and those who still expect a German victory take British successes
against the Italians as a matter of course.
4. Administration. —Ali Zahir Homayun was appointed Acting Istandar for
the Seventh Istan (Fars) in Shiraz in February. On July 31st an ^-Minister
Said Mehdi Farrokh, arrived in Shiraz to become Seventh Istandar. Ali Zahir
remained as his assistant for several months, and then was appointed Governor
of Bushire. In Isfahan, Iskandery retained the post of Fermandar throughout
• the year. 5
5. Propaganda.—A slight skirmish occurred in December between the Seventh
Istandar and the Acting British Consul in Shiraz, on the question of propaganda
attacking the Axis powers, the Governor insisting on the strictest possible inter
pretation of Iranian neutrality. It seems however that propaganda in the form
of broadcasts, films, and regular periodicals sent by post, is not the concern of the
local authorities, Tehran broadcasts seemed to concentrate on educational talks