Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎165r] (329/749)

3
c e le General Jahanbani has decided that he must reduce
S ° 16 w ^ < ^ raw i 11 g his trcx>ps from Dashti and leaving a
ff .u 011 a Military Governor at Khurmuj and a small garrison
An , laai - his is the third time within the last two years that troops who
n erec as iti tor the purpose of carrying out a disarmament have been with
drawn without achieving their object.
'^^uh i Gain.
I 2 - discussions ar e still going on about operations for the disarmament of
e a mai and Janeki tribes. General Jahanbani wishes to carry out the
operation with troops supported by Bakhtiari levies. Morteza Quli Khan, the
governor ot Bakhtiari, refuses to co-operate in an operation controlled by the
army but guarantees to secure the disarmament and submission of these two tribes
it Baiimai is included in his governorship and he is promised the support of troops
if necessary. Colonel Humayun, the officer commanding the troops who would
nave to carry out the operation, is content to do it with troops alone.
K horns san.
tz j 3 i Troupe looked like breaking out between the Turkomans and the
Kurdish tribes of the Shirwan district of Bujnurd. Farajullah Khan of the
aafaianlu Kurds had abducted a lurkoman girl and the Turkomans gathered
to attack Kuchan. There were unconfirmed reports that there had been some
lighting, but it is now reported that the dispute has been settled by the inter
vention of Ardishir Khan of the Shahdillu Kurds.
IT. Seyyid Ismail of the Zaidaranlu Kurds, a notorious robber of the
Kuchan Bajgiran area, is reported to have been killed in a fight with Persian
gendarmes on the 27th January.
Western Azerbaijan.
15. In the latter half of January Kurds from Persia raided a Turkish
village of the Barmish district, killed three villagers and carried off 3,000 sheep.
Representations by the Turkish Consul to the Persian authorities were without
result as the latter were powerless. The Turkish Consul then appealed to the
Russians, who arrested the culprits and handed them over to the Persians.
British Affairs.
16. His Majesty’s Legation in Tehran has been raised to an Embassy, as
also has the American Legation.
17. Loid Knollys, chairman of the British Overseas Airways Corporation,
and other officials of the company visited Tehran from the 10th to the
12th February.
Russian Affairs.
18. Reports regarding alleged large increases in the number of Soviet troops
in Persia continue to be circulated with so much assiduity and wealth of detail
that it is natural to suspect that these reports are being deliberately put about
| for some definite purpose. Those who believe them attribute these increases to
a Soviet desire to bring pressure on either Persia or Turkey. They have created
some alarm in Persian circles and there is information that the Turkish Embassy
has been showing some concern about them. The Soviet military attache has
stated that there is no truth in them; there have been some reliefs and exchanges
of garrisons, but the only increase is a Pioneer Regiment for work on the roads.
From other sources it is known that there has been no noticeable increase at
Meshed, Tabriz or Kazvin.
19. The announcement recently made by the Soviet Government to the effect
that the republics of the Union would in future be free to conduct their own
foreign relations and to maintain their own armies has awakened gloomy
forebodings in Persian minds. They foresee that in the near future Soviet
representation in Persia will be reinforced by Ministers from Soviet Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Georgia and Turkmenistan. They expect to find Soviet Azerbaijan
plotting to encourage the secession from Persia of Persian Azerbaijan, and Soviet
Turkmenistan holding out open arms to Persian Turkomans.
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