‘File 28/42 Persian Gulf War Trade Bureau Reports’ [‎40v] (80/194)

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hot these days and tyros are getting scarcer and
scarcer. In fact they- have taken orf some of the post
buses and soon, rumour hath it, one will be going to
Isfahan by camel and taking weeks, to do it*
They are building a new road from east to west -
from the Indian border - and there is much activity
resulting and we get quite a lot. of work from them in
the shape of illnesses and accidents. It would be a
great help if it were not for the shortage of wheat -
there is wheat cornering going on better than they ever
rose to in England a century or so ago. After a good
harvest everyone is going short of bread (except us - we
• eat much less than the average Irani and can afford, to buy
other things). It is very worrying because tfe see our
workers going short and can do nothihg - they are not
satisfied with nor able to eat much of the meal and eggs
that we live on. We are trying to get a Idrge load oi
beans cheap for them to hel•p'oUt* ,,
( : <* ) so^s £rc23_lDdia_ij2_££raia3_2firt£_miiJipa
iJiQisixX-OOarllraasEfli;^.
.attemp t to e vade this, r estrict jpg - Below is given a cop^v
or a letter ; dated 29.8.42 fromGore and Co., P.O.Box v342, Bombay,
to M. Hoschander, P.O.B. No. 95, Teheran •• J
"With reference to the orders placed by you We beg. to
inform you that a new order has come into force whereby
no goods can be shipped to Khbrramshahr or* other. Iranian
. Ports unless sanction is obtained from the* Hinistry of
War Transport, Basrah, or Middle East Supply Council.
We shall.therefore thank you to kindly approach the
authorities at your end and obtain this sanction...'
Alternatively.if you are so inclined we 1 can ship the
goods up to Basrah showing the final destination only as
Basrah, the onward transport to be arranged ,by yourself,
in which case, we understand, no permissionifrom the
' authorities aforementioned is required;’ 1 :: ;
(i) Pgrsia-S _sla_ia.-C>| . suzerainty overBahrain - diffic u lty in
5£C^in£lcttGra_fronLPorsia_t2_Bah£aiD - The following extrac
from a letter dated 26.8.42 from Rocniram & Son, Abadan, to
Hochiram & Son, Hyderabad (Sind), is of interest :’ w .
"I had given a letter for Bahrain to Mirza Baqar for
sending it by registered post from Basrah. ' Because
letters for Bahrain are not accepted at Abadan for the
simple reason that the Iranian Government claims that
Bahrain is their ancestral dominion. Wherever they find
oil, they argue that they have ancestral claim-over it. ^
Consequently, we are compelled to send.letters to Basrah.
They have stationed a full fledged officer at Tahuma who
searches everybody. He asks people to take off their
pant", socks and shoes even. '..Whatever Baqar Khan said,
the same happened about 3 to 4 days back. They did not
allow him to send the letter along with the Legation post.
. They told him that he could send it direct through some
body because all letters were intercepted by the Censor.
. ■ Thus he brought the letter back. Yesterday morning, I sent
the letter by registered sea mail via Khorramshahr. No one
knows when the steamer will start/ For the present the
steamer is lying at Abadan having returned from Basrah after
; uploading the goods.
Now, we have the same difficulty in regard to Bahrain
letters. In short, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. has also become like
, hell. We cannot get flour, vegetables etc. for eating,
nor -do they grant_us any other facilities."