Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎183v] (366/749)

Persian Forces.
A rmy.
7. The last stage has now been reached in a plot which has been patiently
worked out for months for the elimination from positions of influence in the
army of a number of officers who were characterised by their determination to
support the American military advisers and their belief in the value of
co-operation with the British. For these reasons they were regarded unfavourabh^^
by the Russians, and it would not be unreasonable to assume that their eliminatioi^^
t is at least in part due to Russian influence. The first to be removed was
General Ahmadi from the Ministry for War, and there is little doubt that his
removal was a condition made by Stalin when he made his offer of tanks and
aircraft to the Shah. The next to go was General Ansari from his post as
Under-Secretary for War, and he has recently been relegated to unemployment.
The next was General Riazi (see paragraph 13 of Summary No. 12/44), who was
a strong opponent of the acceptance of the conditions attached to the Russian
offer of tanks and aircraft, a fact of which the Russians were probably made
aware by General Razmara. And now General Arfa has been relieved of the
command of the 1st Division. General Razmara, who has recently been
reappointed Chief of the General Staff, has been, since^he resigned from that
post in September 1943, in close and intimate contact with the Russians (see
! Summary No. 42/43, paragraph 14). The Shah is well aware of his restless
ambition, his infinite capacity for intrigue and mischief and his lack of principle,
and it is unlikely that he would have taken the risk of appointing him to be Chief
of the General Staff unless influenced by some extraneous consideration. It has
been suggested that the appointment was dictated by the Shah's desire to regain
Russian favour, which, as was reported in Summary No. 15/44. paragraph 2, he
feared he had lost.
8. The budget for the army, including the air force, which has been made
out for a total of 90.000 men, comes to between 140 and 150 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. .
In their present temper the Deputies will only with great difficulty be persuaded
to grant more than 100 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. . There is, consequently, no fear of the
army this year exceeding 90,000; it is more likely to be reduced to a lower figure.
A ppointmen ts—Mi litary.
9. —(i) Sarhang Abdullah Amidi from command of the 8th (Khorassan)
Division to command the 1st (Tehran) Division vice Sarlashkar Hassan Arfa.
(ii) Sarhang Ghulam Hussein Naqdi to be Judge Advocate General vice
Sartip Ghulam Ali Ansari.
(iii) Sarhang Qolpira to be Head of the 2nd Bureau of the General Staff.
Internal Security.
10. All the tribes of South Persia are now on migration. Whether the
villages are suffering from the usual tribal depredations is not known, but there
has as yet been little or no disturbance on the roads.
Fars.
11. Labour unrest has now shown itself in Shiraz. The employees of the
power station went on strike and there was trouble in one of the spinning
factories. The arrest of three leading agitators, all of the Tudeh party, has
temporarily, at least, restored order. This trouble followed shortly on the greatly
increased activity of the hitherto inactive Tudeh party of Shiraz. There was a
sudden drive to enrol new members and collect funds, presumably on the orders of
the headquarters of the party in Tehran.
Isfahan.
12. The mill workers of Isfahan returned to work on the 25th April. The
terms of the settlement are not yet known. There is some evidence that some of
the workers are growing resentful of the control of the Tudeh party and of the
latter’s desire to exploit them for political purposes.
Russian Affairs.
13. The Russians have now inaugurated a weekly air service between Tehran
and Tabriz. The passenger fare is 1,200 rials for the single journey. The
service between Tehran and Meshed is running regularly and five trips have now