Coll 28/97 ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries’ [‎352v] (704/749)

2
Persian Government for similar services in respect of Mulla Mustafa and
Sheikh Ahmed Barzani, who had conversely fled from their forces into Persia.
In actual fact, the Persians could render no such assistance as the area in which
the two fugitives are now living* is completely under Russian military control.
The C.G.S. also stated that the troops would be withdrawn to their winter
quarters within a month, two battalions being quartered at Merivan and the
remaining nine at Baneh, Sardasht, Saqqiz and Senneh.
A zerbmjan.
5. One of the Kurdish chiefs, who recently visited Baku, is reliably reported
to have said that the party was received in an interview by Baghirov, the
President of the Azerbaijan Republic, who promised Soviet support
for the Kurdish Independence movement provided the Kurds would work with
the new Democratic party of Persian Azerbaijan. The Tudeh party was never
popular with the Kurdish chiefs because of its programme of agrarian reform,
highly repugnant to such large land-owners, but the Democratic party is not
so repugnant being less radical in its programme.
6 . A consular report states that Mulla Mustafa and Sheikh Ahmed Barzani
have conferred with Ghazi Muhammad of Mahabad on the Kurdish Indepen
dence movement and on the chances of continuing their struggle next spring
against the Iraq forces.
Reports from other sources tell of other Kurdish chieftains being taken
in Russian military lorries, on the 20th October, to Mahabad, to attend the same
conference, and on the 22nd October of seven lorry loads of Russian rifles and
400,000 rials being delivered to Ghazi Muhammad, also the staging of a
conference by the Russians at Maku between Persian Azerbaijani notables and
Kurds and, lastly, of a withdrawal of Russian troops from the Perso-Turkish
border to their garrison towns of Maku, Khoi, Rezaieh, &c. If these reports
are true, as they seem to be, two possible conclusions are (i) that the Russians
are anxious to unite Persian Azerbaijanis and Kurds in support of the
Autonomous Azerbaijan movement, and (ii) that they intend to use the Kurds
of Persia and Iraq and not their own troops to further these designs in anticipa
tion of the period subsequent to 2nd March, when they will have no troops in
Persia to use in this connexion.
7. The Democratic party has announced its intention to begin forthwith
the arrangements for both Majlis and Provincial Council elections.
A appointments.
8 . (i) Dr. Nasr, previously Governor-General of Mazanderan, to be Inspector-
General of the Ministry of the Interior.
(ii) Muhsin Shahrukhi, formerly head of the Personnel Department in the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, to be Director of the Contracts and
Legal Affairs Department in the same Ministry.
(iii) Muhammad Husain Najm to be head of the Personnel Department of
the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
(iv) Hadi Arbabi to be Governor of Shahriza.
(v) Daulatshahi, recently appointed Director of Finance for Eastern and
Western Azerbaijan, has also been appointed acting Governor-
General of the two Ustans pending an official appointment by the
Ministry of the Interior.
Persian Gendarmerie.
9. Colonel Schwarzkopf stated to the B.M.A. that—
(i) There was an overall shortage of about 4,000 in the total establishment
of fifteen regiments.
(ii) That he was disregarding the prohibition of enlisting as gendarmes
men who had not performed their military conscription service and
that, when asked by the Ministry of War to surrender an individual
wanted for conscription, he refused to do so on the ground that the
man was, in the gendarmerie, performing military service of equal
importance.
(iii) That he hoped soon to get Cabinet sanction for his proposed gendarmerie
officers’ training college which would enable him to train his own
officers and to dispense with the leavings of the Persian army which
formed his present officer cadre.