Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎345r] (689/749)

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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT ( V^/
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PERSIA.
SECRET.
With thG Corm’imentb
of thfi
Under
of State
for Forvi^n Affairs
October 18, 1945.
Section 2.
- 7 DEC 1945
Copy No. j J 2
[E 8002/70/34]
Military A ttache’s Intelligence Summary No. 39 for the period Is? to 7th October,
1945.— {Communicated in Tehran despatch No. 354 of Qth October; Received
in Foreign Office, l%th October.)
Persian Affairs.
The Majlis.
1. No public session was held on the 30th September as the Prime Minister
had asked the Speaker to call a secret session to discuss the purchase of American
surplus military assets in Persia. The Minister of Finance explained why the
Government could not maintain its contention that all American assets should e
handed over to the Persian Government free of charge and that the Government
had decided to purchase those assets of which it stood in need. The House agreed
on condition that the Persian Government should not be forced to pay in doliaTS
for assets which they did not require or for those assets which were sold m the
open market. For these the purchasers and not the National Bank must provide
the dollars. At the session of the 2nd October the Minister of War asked for
discussion of his Bill for the provision of two additional divisions. (See Intel
ligence Summary No. 38, paragraph 12.) The Minister for Foreign Affairs made
a statement regarding the purchase of American military assets and also gave the
reasons for the non-conclusion of a treaty governing the entry of American troops
into Persia. Dr. Musaddiq also spoke, repeating his assertion that Sadr had
undertaken to resign should the Opposition to his Government reach the figure o
forty The Prime Minister denied ever having given any such undertaking.
There was no public session on the 4th October, but a number of Deputies said to
be as many as eighty, prepared the draft of a Bill to postpone the next elections
till at the latest, one month after the evacuation of Persia by Allied troops. A
new Electoral Law is also to be passed which will result in the new elections being
concluded in a much shorter time than hitherto. (The Government s proclamation
about the new elections should normally have been issued on the 16th September.)
At the session of the 6th October Dr. Muhammad Sadiq Tabatabai was re-elected
President of the Majlis by 64 votes against 47 cast for Ali Dashti. At the session
of the 7th October Malek Madani and Amir Teymour were elected vice-presidents.
Political.
2. The Prime Minister is reliably reported as having announced his inten
tion of resigning at an audience with H.I.M. The Shah. He said that, notwith
standing the vote of confidence which his Government had secured, the continued
attacks made on him and his Cabinet by Dr Musaddiq and the minority had
made continuance of his task impossible. The Shah is reported to have asked
Sadr to continue in office a little longer. . . , „ „
3 Persian anxiety about the outcome of the Foreign Secretaries Conference
in London seems to have diminished slightly. The more sensible realise that,
disappointing as the Russian attitude to immediate evacuation was the existence
of a treaty containing a fixed date for this evacuation does afford a reasonable
hope of liberation within five months from the present Russian stranglehold on
the four northern provinces of Azerbaijan, Gilan, Mazanderan, and Khorasan.
Internal Security.
Kurdistan.
4 Seven members of the Komala (Kurdish Autonomy party) visited Baku
between the 17th and 23rd September at the invitation of the Soviet Government.
They were headed by Ghazi Muhammad of Mahabad. According to the press, the
Persian Government, incensed at this visit without their permission and even
without the obtaining of exit visas by the party, have protested to the Soviet
Embassy and even demanded the extradition of the seven Kurds.