Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎93r] (185/749)

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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
PERSIA.
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Mav 18, 1943.
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Section 1.
[E 2869/110/34]
Copy No. H6
Sir ft. Bullard to Mr. Ede n. —i H eti' A’idl ISth May.)
(No. 163.)
HIS Majesty’s representative presents his compliments to His Majesty's
Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and has the honour to transmit
herewith a copy of Intelligence Summary No. 17 for the period of the 20th to
26th April, 1943, compiled by the military attache to this legation.
Tehran, ‘27th April, 1943. / j ^
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Enclosure.
Military Attache s Intelligence Summary No. 17 for the period the
'20th to '2<Sth April, 1943.
Political.
Persian A ffairs.
THE evil effects of the outrageous conduct of the press on Anglo-Persian
relations and on the internal. situation and the increasing indiscipline in all
Government departments that was obviously resulting from the unrestricted
license of the press to criticise the Government and to incite and inflame public
opinion have at last convinced the Prime Minister that action was necessary.
By a decree of the Council of Ministers, the Government transferred to the
Minister for War full authority for the execution of article 5 of the Military
Governorship Law, which sanctions the arrest and detention of persons suspected
of opposition to constitutional government or public order and security. By
another decree the Government has amplified the rather vague article which
describes the offences for which newspapers may be suppressed. These are now
defined as : the publication of articles contemptuously criticising decisions made
by Government in the interests of law and order or to assure the necessary
requirements of the people; incitement against Government by improper and
insulting publications concerning the Crown, or the legislative executive and
judicial bodies of the country; criticism of, and false accusations against, foreign
representatives of Governments in alliance with or in friendly relations with the
Persian Government when such publications would be damaging to the interests
of the Persian Government.
2. The Minister for War has been obliged himself to assume the functions
of the Military Governor, all other officers to whom the appointment was offered
having pleaded that they were unwilling to be accused of suppressing the liberties
of the people. This attitude is typical of the lack of confidence of all Govern
ment employees in the Government’s ability to protect them against attack by
the press and of the prevailing indiscipline that has resulted from the weakness
of Soheily's Administration. The Minister for War does not lack courage,
and he has issued a communique announcing that he intends to apply
to the letter the laws and regulations of military governorship. He has already
suppressed eleven newspapers in Tehran, but since papers are not subject to
censorship before publication, offensive articles continue to appear and to circulate
before the papers can be suppressed.
3. An attempt was made to work up an agitation against the Bill for
the grant of extensive powers to the American Financial Adviser (see Summary
No. 11/43, paragraph 8) by closing the bazaars. This coincided with the
assumption by the Minister for War of the authority of the Military Governor
of Tehran. The bazaars were open the next day, the merchants all fervently
denying that they had instigated the movement, and the shopkeepers saying that
they had shut their shops on rumours that rioting was imminent. The Chamber
[41—‘50]
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