Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎169r] (337/749)

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anvthino- mnr* th** lu rea ® on to believe that the Russians have offered
Sum mar v No 4/44. 11 6 tan ^ s an d thirty aircraft mentioned in
the nremrmaKhr ’ .P a ^ a ^ ra P^ ^ would be a mistake to read too much into
Invi Mip J 111 spired press article referred to above. It may be calculated to
t • °- 1 . nc min S ambitious Persian officers to look to Russia for
to r f e( l ul PP m g a modern army. It may also be interpreted as an incite-
p e 4 - U ] Se -j° acc . e P^ ^be authority of the American advisers should the
hr vemment decide to invest them with authority.
15. As far as is known, no definite answer has yet been given to the Russian
otter to establish mixed Russo-Persian regiments of tanks and aircraft. There
is already opposition among the Deputies to the acceptance of the gift of tanks
and aircraft even without conditions. It is likely that there would be violent
opposition to the formation of mixed regiments if the suggestion were knowm to
the public.
Gendarmerie.
16. The contract for the engagement of Colonel Schwarzkopf and a mission
i? ii I ^ eriCan °bi cers the reorganisation of the gendarmerie includes the
following conditions :—
(i) The task of the mission is to advise and assist the Persian Ministry of
the Interior in reorganising the gendarmerie.
(ii) The period of the engagement of the mission shall be for a minimum of
two years, i.e., until the 1st October, 1945. It can be cancelled at
three months’ notice on either side and it may be renewed after the
expiry of two years.
(iii) Officers of the mission will serve in the rank they hold in the American
army or in any higher rank they may be given by the Persian
Government. They will take precedence over all Persian officers of
equivalent rank.
(iv) The head of the mission shall have “control of gendarmerie organisa
tion for the duration of this contract and he will take precedence over
all officers of the Imperial Gendarmerie. He is in direct charge of the
control and organisation (of the gendarmerie) and has the right to
make proposals to the Shah, through the Minister of the Interior, for
the promotion, appointment, degrading or dismissal of all ranks of
the gendarmerie. No other person has the right to interfere.”
(v) The Persian Government agrees that during the period of this contract
it will not engage officers of any other Power for work with the
gendarmerie.
(vi) All members of the mission undertake not to disclose to any national of
a foreign Power official secrets learnt in the course of their duties.
Internal Security.
Kuh-i-Galu.
17. Morteza Quli Khan, Governor of Bakhtiari, and General Jahanbani are
now in Khuzestan concerting politico-military measures to induce the Bahmai to
surrender some arms. Meanwhile, Persian troops have been concentrated at
Rud-i-Zard. It is likely that the Bahmai will surrender sufficient arms to save
the face of the Government authorities and avert military operations.
18. The Persian commander in Khuzestan reports that Abdullah
Zarghampur Boir Ahmadi has handed over fifteen light machine guns, one
mortar and some other equipment taken at Semirum, but only one rifle. In
return, he was asking to be given authority over the Dushmanziari and one
section of the Taiyibi. He also reported that the Boir Ahmadi were handing the
Germans back to the Qashgai.
British Affairs.
19. During the last ten months a mobile dispensary, provided by Persia and
Iraq Force, under a British officer, has been touring tribal areas, the result of
this evidence of the interest of the British authorities in the welfare of the
tribes has been wholly good. The visits of the dispensary have been everywhere
welcomed and it has been hospitably received; genuine gratitude has been shown
for the attentions of the medical officer. Much valuable information about
conditions in the tribes has been obtained. The tribes visited include Arabs,
Lurs Kurds, Bakhtiari, Qashgai, Mamassanni and some sections of the Boir
Ahmadi. Many more of these dispensaries could be employed with advantage.