Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎277r] (553/749)

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THIS DOCUMENT THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
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May 18, 1945.
Section 1.
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Military A ttache’s Intelligence Summary No. 18, Secret, for the Period 30£A Afrit
to §th May, 1945 .—{Communicated in Tehran Despatch No. 145 of 1th May;
Received in Foreign Office, \%th May.) ^p _ . ^ ^ ^ ^
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Persian A ffairs.
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Political. " i-
THE Deputies, having been unable to agree on any man of character, have
elected a nonentity as Prime Minister in the person of Ibrahim Hakimi (Hakim
ul Mulk), an old deaf man who has played no important part in Persian politics
for many years. In past history he was physician to Muzaffer ed Din Shah and
was subsequently a Cabinet Minister in several Governments before Reza Shah’s
reign. He is said to be honest and is known to be ineffective. He obtained
sixty-four votes from the Deputies, Sadiq Sadiqi (Mustashar ed Douleh)
(F.O. 193; M.A. 248), who was preferred by the Russians, finding twenty-four
supporters. Rumours that Hakimi intends in the choice of the members of his
Cabinet to give paramount consideration to the propitiation of the Soviet
Embassy have already raised doubts in the minds of those who voted for him
whether their choice was wise, and hopes of his having a stable maiority are
not high.
2. On the advice of His Majesty’s Ambassador the Persian authorities
decided to suspend for the 1 st May the order forbidding public gatherings and
demonstrations in Tehran since the professed object of the Tudeh party was to
show their admiration for the Red army. The party was consequently allowed
to hold a May Day procession on condition that orders given by the Military
Governor to party leaders regarding the route to be followed and the avoidance
of offensive slogans were obeyed. A crowd of 4,000-6,000 men and women was
collected for the occasion, mostly Armenians, Assyrians, refugees of some years
ago from Russia and Turks from Azerbaijan. The proceedings were entirely
orderly.
Economic.
3. The personnel of the commissions which according to the Statutes of the
Supreme Economic Council—see appendix to Summary No. 15/1945—are to
be charged with responsibility for studying and reporting to the Supreme Council
on questions connected with finance, agriculture, labour and commerce have now
been appointed. The presidents of the commissions in the above order are
Mahmud Bader (F.O. 40; M.A. 51); Ahmad Hussein Adi; Dr. Aghayan and
Mohammad Mehdi Nimazi.
A ppointments — Military.
4:—(i) Sarhang Ahmed Vusuq to command the 8 th (Khorassan) Division
vice Sarhang Khodadad, relieved.
(ii) Sarhang Seyyid Hussein Hashimi Ha’iri to command the Independent
Mechanised Brigade (Tehran).
(iii) Sarhang Keihan to be head of the Army Transport Department vice
Sartip Atapur, resigned.
Internal Security.
Western A zerbaijan.
5. Disturbing reports are reaching the Persian authorities regarding the
situation in Mahabad. It has already been reported in Summaries No. 12/1945,
paragraph 11 , and No. 14/1945, paragraph 15, that a column of Persian troops,
which the Government had despatched with a view to establishing their authority
in Mahabad, had been stopped by the Soviet military authorities. R-ecent reports
[ 66 — 6 ]' ‘
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