Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎246r] (491/749)

5
® No doubt to-day Britain was the ally and friend of Persia and was not
considered as the country which had signed the 1907 and 1919 treaties, and the
wntei did not want his opponents to use his statements as evidence against him,
but, in order to elucidate the matter, he would mention the following few
examples :—
(1) In 1312, when a plan for a trans-Persian railway linking the east of
Persia and the Afghan borders with the Gulf was under discussion,
Lord Cui'zon had stated that for fifty years the principle of the
defence of India consisted of surrounding her with a belt of
impassable mountains and deserts and the projected railway would
rob the defence of India of the strategic value of the Persian Desert
and would bring the Russians 1,000 miles nearer to India, &c.
(2) In the 1907 treaty Persia was so partitioned that the Russians had no
common frontier with Afghanistan and the neutral zone was very
narrow in the west and very broad in the east; this was another
measure which was taken for the defence of India.
Now, of course, Britain had reconsidered the problem of the defence of India,
but one could not forget that before this war Russia was surrounded by countries
which were under the influence of an anti-Russian policy and great damages were
inflicted upon her. Now Russia, in order to secure her interests, was compelled
to eradicate the influence of the nefarious anti-Russian policy from these
districts. These regions were considered the belt of security for Russia not in
the sense of being under Russian influence, but that anti-Russian influences
should not be implanted there.
Appendix 2.
Summary of the statement published by Seyyid Zia-ed-Din Tabatabai in
Ra'di Imruz of the 20^ December, 1944.
KAVTARADZEH’S statement that the Oil Bill was the work of enemies
of Soviet-Persian friendship such as Sa’ed and myself is an unforgivable calumny
as well as a blunder against the Majlis. Persia has never been a menace to Russia
—witness my own actions twenty-four years ago when Britain, then in occupation
of Persia, could, had she wdshed, have threatened to have disreputed Russia. I
welcomed the first Soviet representative to Tehran : now, thanks to the errors of
Soviet representatives, I am accused of anti-Russian activities. No patriotic
Persian is so stupid as even to wish to work against Russia. Such statements
by Soviet representatives are deliberate attempts to find pretexts and confuse the
issue. The claim that the northern provinces are a “ security zone " is only a
prelude to further, and at last total, encroachment. If this principle is admitted,
other countries will claim a security zone in Persia.
Even if Great Britain and India were a menace to Russia, “ security zone "
has no meaning in view of the modern development and range of air power;
and Persia does not come into the picture as a bulwark. In any case, the question
does not arise; the world is fighting for peace and does not accept the
“ Lebensraum ” principle—for that is what the “ security zone ” claim is.
If, after the war, the Majlis should decide to grant a concession to a foreign
Power, the U.S.S.R. should be given precedence; because we are bound to her by
ties of gratitude, of admiration and of propinquity.
The interference of the Allies in the internal affairs of Persia is contrary
to the letter of the Treaty; and encroachment on Persia’s integrity daily increased.
The Persian Government is now incapable of enforcing its authority. British
officials in the west and south, Soviet officials in the north interfered in the
elections : this interference was the direct result of the presence of Allied troops
in the capital, and of the intimidation of the central Government. Soviet troops
prevent Persians travelling about their own country; Soviet authorities expel
Persian citizens from the northern provinces; the Cabinet has to have Soviet
permission to send out its own troops to preserve security. Persians have
become suspicious of the political intentions of the Allies.