Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎262v] (524/749)

2
sufficient Persian to understand the orders given. The amendment is also very
unpopular with officers who, quick to select as batmen the more presentable and
intelligent and the handymen from each draft, thus secured for themselves two
years’ free domestic service.
8. Sarhang Khodadad, General Officer Commanding the 8th Khorrassan
Division, has been recalled to Tehran to answer charges made against him and
his officers of peculation especially in the matter of certain recent disarmament
operations near Kuchan. A commission had recently gone to Meshed to inves
tigate these rumours. Sarhang Khodadad had been favourably noticed by His
Majesty's Consul-General for Khorrassan, and it is known that he was not
regarded with favour by the Russians. He was, moreover, a nominee of General
Razmara.
Persian Air Force.
9. General Ahmad Nakchevan (F.O. 159; M.A. 193) and Colonel Siahpush
have returned to Persia from their tour in the United States. Their itinerary
was a lengthy one and they were lavishly entertained. They are reported as
{having been greatly impressed with American factory An East India Company trading post. war production but not at
all with the war effort in general.
Internal Security.
Kurdistan.
10. The small force which the Chief of the General Staff had ordered to
proceed to Bukan has not, as yet, arrived. It is to be larger than the single
battalion as stated in paragraph 10 of Intelligence Summary No. 8/45 and is to
consist, in addition, of a squadron of cavalry, a section of tanks and a mortar
detachment. General Hushmand Afshar has not yet assembled this column from
his scattered command. Amir Asad of the Deboukri Kurds has been instructed
by Af^har to collect his followers and meet him at Mahabad. Uncertainty as
to the Russians’ reactions, the known enmity between Ghazi Muhammad of
Mahabad and Amir Asad, the evil reputation of General Hushmand. Afshar
among the Kurds and, lastly, the intention of Colonel Schwarzkopf to form a
gendarmerie battalion at Mahabad, of which Kurds will form the majority, are
all factors which may produce some startling results in the neighbourhood.
Kuh-i-Galu.
11. Abdullah Zarghampur, according to a consular report, has arrived at
Behbehan and, from a message sent in by General Humayuni, seems prepared
to submit to the Government. It is to be hoped that General Humayuni's
moderate outlook (moderate, that is to say, in comparison with other Persian
Generals) and his knowledge of his own Government’s weakness will induce him
to propose terms which, while securing tranquillity for the area, will not prove
too onerous for Abdullah’s acceptance.
Isfahan.
12. The situation is reported as quieter and there have been no more
disturbances.
Shiraz.
13. The Russian Consul at Isfahan, Mr. Marchenko, accompanied by the
Assistant Russian Military Attache and two agricultural experts, visited Shiraz
between the 10th and the 17th February. Mr. Marchenko was very curious and his
questions to the Persian officials and His Majesty’s Consul covered a wide range
of subjects. He asked for information about the tribes; the reported smuggling
of arms to them from Koweit and Bahrein; the real reasons underlying the
reconciliation between Nasir Khan Qashgai and the Qavam; the training and
administration of the Persian army; the establishment of the British Consulate;
the capacity of the local hospitals; local political parties; the local press and even
the number of converts made by the Church Missionary Society.
14. Khosro and Muhammad Hussein Qashgai have left Teihran for Shiraz.
It remains to be seen whether they will attempt to persuade Nasir Khan to
come to Tehran to make his peace with His Imperial Majesty The Shah and
whether Nasir Khan will consider it as a trap. There are grounds for believing
that Nasir Khan regards Khosro with suspicion as attempting to undermine his
authority with the Qashgai and also as a convert to the Tudeh.