Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎133r] (265/749)

3
enough to impose their ideas on the army. A beginning is to be made by clearing
out some of the old and useless officers, but there will still remain a number of
educated younger officers of strongly nationalistic ideas who are opposed to the
grant of authority to American advisers.
F was re P or ted in last week’s Summary of Intelligence, the then Chief
. 1 le General Staff, Brigadier Razmara, had resigned as a protest against the
intervention of Indian troops in the arrests of Persian military officers in Isfahan
auid had later withdrawn his resignation. But a few days later he refused to
®cept certain regulations drawn up by the Ministry for War to implement the
Shah s decree making the General Staff subordinate to the Ministry—see Summary
35 / 43 , paragraph 11 . His principal objection was to the transfer of the
Officer Personnel (Military Secretary’s) Department from the control of the General
Staff to the direct control of the Minister for War. The Shah, who had most
unwillingly agreed to the subordination of the General Staff to the Ministry for
War, was with difficulty persuaded that Brigadier Razmara should be relieved of
his appointment. His removal is a disappointment to a number of ambitious
youngish officers, as Razmara had intendec
of all officers senior to him and his frienc
for some time.
to work for the compulsory retirement
s. These may be a disturbing element
14. A Bill will shortly be laid before the Majlis asking for approval of the
engagement of General Ridley and not more than thirty American officers as
military advisers to the Persian army. The Persian Government does not expect
to get as many as thirty officers immediately.
A ointments — Military.
..15.—(i) Sartip Ali Riazi to be Chief of the General Staff vice Sartip
Haji Ali Razmara (M.A. 243) relieved.
(ii) Sartip Ghulam Ali Ansari to be L nder-Secretary of State for War vice
Sartip Riazi.
(iii) Sartip Majid Firouz (M.A. 93) to be Director of Personnel in the
Ministry for War.
(iv) Sartip Reza Quli Kerim-Ghovanlou to command the Central Adminis
trative Depot, Tehran.
(v) Sarhang Mazheri to be head of the 4th Bureau, General Staff, Army
Headquarters.
(vi) Sartip Mahmud Khosrowpanah to be Director of Conscription in the
Ministry for War.
0 Internal Security.
Fars.
16. An uneasy peace still reigns in Fars. Nasir Qashgai now pleads that
it is Qavam-ul-Mulk’s presence in Shiraz that prevents his coming in to discuss
terms. He has clearly been encouraged to hold out by the conciliatory reception
given to Khosrow in Tehran, which he has interpreted—rightly—as an indication
of the Government’s weakness. The Minister for War is now visiting Shiraz
to examine the situation and the possibility of offensive action against Nasir in
consultation with the local authorities.
Bakhtiari.
17. Abul Qasim has now come to Tehran, and it is to be hoped that his
followers will now disperse unless the Persian army deserter, Captain Alavi,
can find money to hold them together. They are now collected at Auragun, where
there may still be some Germans. Captain Alavi has also been making overtures to
surrender. Morteza Quli, in spite of the inevitable intrigues of his brother khans,
seems to be slowly making good as governor. There is a fair degree of peace in
the greater part of Bakhtiari and grain is coming satisfactorily into the collecting
centres.
Khuzistan.
18. Armed Arabs under a leader, Zumail, have been for some time
committing robberies with violence in the neighbourhood of Khorramshahr and
Abadan. On the 8 th September there was an encounter between them and the local
gendarmerie which resulted in casualties on both sides and in the gendarmerie
remaining in control of the area. Some local authorities expect retaliation bv
the Arabs.
Tehran, IMh September, 1943.