Coll 28/97(1) ‘Persia. Diaries. Tehran Intelligence Summaries.’ [‎134v] (268/807)

On the 28th February he will leave Bagdad, arriving in Damascus and Beirut
on the 1st March.
The Crown Prince will leave Beirut on the Egyptian royal yacht on the
2nd March, arriving in Alexandria on the 3rd March.
His Royal Highness will remain in Egypt about a month, during which the
Moslem marriage ceremony will take place.
Their Royal Highnesses will leave Egypt by sea so as to reach Bandar
Shahpur by the 14th April. Formal requests have been made to His Majesty’s
Government and the French and Italian Governments for a naval escort vessel
to accompany the royal yacht along their respective seaboards in the Red Sea.
The British naval escort has been asked to accompany His Royal Highness from
the Bab-el-Mandeb to the mouth of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , after which the Imperial
Iranian navy will furnish the escort.
The royal party will travel by train from Bandar Shahpur to Tehran and
are expected to arrive in the capital on the 16th April.
3. Iranian Officials.
(i) After several changes the Shah has finally approved the appointment of
M. Qasim Sur (formerly Sur-i-Israfil) (Military Attache’s Personalities, No. 284;
Foreign Office Personalities, No. 201), late Governor of Gilan, to be officiating
head of the Municipality of Tehran.
(ii) M. Ghulam Reza Nurzad (Military iVttache’s Personalities, No. 204,
Foreign Office Personalities, No. 148), late consul-general at Delhi, has been
appointed head of the Consular Department at the Ministry for foreign Affairs.
(iii) M. Abul Hassan Diba (Siqat-ud-Douleh) (Military Attache’s Personal
ities, No. 77, Foreign Office Personalities No. 62) has been appointed first
secretary to the Iranian Legation in Bagdad.
4. The Iranian Army.
Reference Intelligence Summary No. 25 (current), paragraph 6 (iv).
(i) A further consignment of approximately 12,400 shells for the new Stokes
Brandt 81 mm. mortars has been shipped from France to Iran.
(ii) Taking advantage of the still favourable weather many units of the Tehran
Garrison have been seen carrying out section training in the excellent training
areas immediately north of Tehran. The individual training of signallers and
range-takers is also being carried out.
5. The Iranian Air Force.
Reference Intelligence Summary No. 16 (current), paragraph 5 (iii), and
< Intelligence Summary No. 23 (current), paragraph 8.
(i) It is reliably stated that the five Hawker “ Audax ” now under construc
tion at the Shahbaz Aircraft Factory An East India Company trading post. at Doshantappeh will not be ready for
delivery by the end of the Iranian year (20th March, 1939). The blame for this
delay will certainly be laid on the British personnel, more especially the acting
technical adviser (Mr. F. Knight).
(ii) The arrangements for the production of twenty Hawker “ Hind ”
machines during the new Iranian year (1939-40) are still under discussion. The
acting British technical adviser has drawn up a provisional programme for their
construction in batches of five, seven and eight so as to maintain a continuity
of work throughout the factory An East India Company trading post. and forestall any lack of raw materials and
engines, &c., on order. The Iranian air force authorities wish, however, to
construct the whole twenty machines at once, which is considered quite impossible.
6. The Imperial Bank of Iran.
The British-owned and staffed Imperial Bank of Iran have throughout the
year been having considerable difficulty over the question of remitting their profits
and employees’ part salaries to London. Lately these troubles have come to a
head and vital discussions have taken place between the general manager of the
Imperial Bank in Iran and M. Bader, the Iranian Minister of Finance. The
intention of the Minister is to restrict the bank’s remittances to London to the