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and military before the demonstrators had proceeded far. Two lorry-loads of
bemused and unenthusiastic demonstrators from Sultanabad arsenal was
stopped and turned back some 4 miles north of the town.
4. A society of Ulema has been founded in Tehran. The names of several
eminent divines are among its members. Among its objects are the translation
of the Koran and famous works on Mohammedan theology and the construction
of a hostel for prominent clerics visiting the capital.
5. Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Akram, the Governor of Hamadan, has been acquitted by the
correctional court of the charges made against him of illegally imprisoning
certain people in Hamadan.
Appointments — Civil.
6. Mahmud Faroughi, fourth son of the late Persian Prime Minister,
Muhammad Ali Faroughi (Zuka-ul-Mulk), to be first secretary at the Persian
Embassy in London.
Economic.
7. Reference Summary No. 4.2/H, paragraph 7, a contract has now been
signed between the Persian Government and the British firm of Sir Alexander
Gibb and Partners for the survey of the Lar valley project. The survey is to be
topographical and geological and is to cover the feasibility of the construction
of the dam, boring of the necessary tunnels and the possibility of combining
with the dam an hydro-electric scheme.
8. iMi anti-locust conference has been in session in Tehran since the
11th November. Representatives of Great Britain, United States, Russia,
Afghanistan and Persia attended.
9. Further good rain has fallen over the northern part of Persia.
Persian Forces.
10. The Russians seem to have at last agreed to the despatch of Persian
troops to disarm the tribes in the Shirwan and Bujnurd areas. Some 120 infantry
under Sarhang Beglari left Meshed on the 20th October for Bujnurd. A com
mission composed of a military officer, the farmandar, the public prosecutor and
two well-known citizens of each place will be formed to collect arms from the
tribes. It is reported that Ali Khan Bicharanlu is already under guard in
Meshed and Farajullah Zafaranlu is to be arrested shortly.
Internal Security.
Kurdistan.
11. There is little news of the operations against Hama Rashid and
negotiations with the Iraq Government for his arrest and extradition are still in
pi ogress. Hama Rashid s followers are still reported to be engaged in guerrilla
u arfare and in harassing the Persian lines of communication to Baneh, where
the garrison numbers about 2,000-3,000 men.
12. Distribution of piece-goods (71,005 metres), sugar (100,073 kilog.) and
tea (998 kilog.) has been made in some of the rural areas of the Kermanshah
governorate by the Cereals and Bread Department. An offer by the Kurdish
chiefs to take delivery themselves in Kermanshah and to superintend the
distribution was declined.
Security—East Persia,
13. Two U.K.C.C. trucks employed on wheat collection were held up by an
armed gang about 15 miles north of Zahidan on the 8th November. Of the four
Persian drivers and assistants, two were killed and two seriously injured. The
robbers carried away the cash and personal belongings of the drivers. A Persian
army detachment sent in pursuit has so far failed to contact the robbers.
Russian Affairs.
A consular report from Meshed states that some eighty Turkoman
soldiers of the Red army are said to have deserted and joined the Persian