Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎255r] (509/749)

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* Internal Security.
Azarbaijan.
9. With reference to Summary No. 4/45, paragraph 9, further details of the
proceedings of the Tudeh conference have been received. 142 delegates attended.
[ . 43,000 members are claimed for eastern Azarbaijan alone and 7,000 for the
city of Tabriz. The resolutions passed may be summarised as follows : To oppose
imperialism and a one-sided foreign policy; to establish provincial committees;
to defend workers and peasants against the oppression of local authorities and
landlords; to combat unemployment; to urge the exploitation of the province’s
mineral resources; to work for the abolition of oppressive legislation passed under
Reza Shah’s regime. The conference also pledged its friendship to the Soviets
and for all small nations fighting for freedom. The conference also thanked the
Kurds for their offer to co-operate with the Tudeh for the benefit of Persia.
These thanks appear to have been cheaply earned, as the fifteen Kurdish chiefs
summoned to Tabriz refused to attend the conference.
Kurdistan.
10. Some months ago a party of fifteen Roghzadeh Jaf tribesmen were
lured into Sennandaj by false promises on the part of the local Persian military
commander, Hushmand Afshar. They were thrown into prison and their sheep
and other belongings stolen. They were forced to sign a document admitting
their guilt in having entered Persia under arms. They were never brought to
trial. They were kept in conditions of barbarous severity and two of their
number died. Protests by the Government of Iraq have led to the promise of
their release in a week’s time. They have been told to remove their property but
have protested that most of it has been stolen.
Khuzistan.
11. The Persian Government has been issuing passports for pilgrims to
Kerbela without ascertaining from the Iraqi Consulate the numbers of applicants
for visas with which they could cope. They have also been running three special
pilgrim trains to Ahwaz per week without concerning themselves with the
arrangements for the onward transport of pilgrims from Ahwaz to Iraq. The
resulting accumulation of pilgrims without food or shelter in Ahwaz is causing
the local authorities much concern. Many pilgrims, tired of waiting their turn
at the Iraqi Consulate, will have gone south without Iraqi visas, and the trade
of the Shatt-el-Arab boatmen in smuggling them across at extortionate rates is
likely to be a brisk one.
12. The military governor of Abadan met the sheikhs of south-east Abadan
on the 29th January and obtained promises from them to hand over their arms.
While complying with the military governor’s orders the sheikhs pointed out
that they would remain at the mercy of the tribes on the Arab side of the
Shatt-el-Arab who still retain their arms
Mekran.
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13. Security around Zahidan has deteriorated and further hold-ups have
been reported. The area near Hormuk is particularly bad owing to its proximity
to the Afghan border and the numerous safe exits afforded to bandits by the
tangled mass of hills near Kuh-i-Malik Siah.
Turkish Interests.
14. Jahid Hayta, Second Secretary to the Turkish Embassy, Tehran, has
been transferred to Rome.
Russian Interests.
15. Major-General I. V. Kargin, Chief of the Soviet Transport Directorate
and commander of all Russian personnel in Tehran, has returned to Moscow on
completion of his appointment. His successor is Colonel Kostikov, who is
[62—60] b 2