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profits (not exceeding 10 per cent.) on sterling transactions and on sterling
advances to the Iranian Government or Government institutions.
The Minister of Finance is also pressing the bank to advance the Government
£400.000 as the Government are short of foreign exchange resources^ A number
of foreign railway construction firms have to be paid off early in 1939 and. shou
the new German Clearing Agreement he approved, a lump sum payment in foreign
currency of about £800.000 in part settlement of the outstanding debt may be
necessary. . „ , ... ^ ,i T
Discussions still continue, but it seems as if the activities of the Imperial
Bank of Iran may have to be curtailed. . , ^ . T * i j
It is of interest to note that the Imperial Bank of Iran was founded hity
years ago. It has sixteen branches in Iran and two in Iraq. I nfortunately,
within recent years the bank has had to close down several of its branches owin|
to lack of business and the restrictions put upon it by the foundation ol
the Banque-i-Mellie (the National Bank), a purely Iranian concern, Ac.
7. Egyptian Interests.
According to a press report from Cairo, both the Egyptian Legation m
Tehran and the Iranian Legation in Cairo will shortly he elevated to the status ot
embassies.
8. French Interests.
\ French mission, who are surveying a motor route between Paris and Saigon
(Indo-China), passed through Tehran on the 22nd December. The mission was
composed of the following :—
M. Henri de Vilmorin, explorer and journalist.
M. Roger Chancell, staff reporter of the Candide.
M. Maurice Schirrer, mechanic.
From Calcutta the route proposed to be followed is via Shingkmg, Yuanfu,
Hanoi and Saigon.
9. The Trans-Iranian Railway.
(i) Train services are now running fairly regularly between Tehran and
Bandar Shahpur. The passenger tariff rates have been provisionally fixed as
under :—
First class : 0-40 rials per kilom.
Second class : 0-25 rials per kilom.
Third class : 0-15 rials per kilom.
(ii) According to press reports work has commenced on Lot 1 of the Qum
Yezd branch line. The contract has been given to an Iranian firm of contractors
—Messrs. Kavesh. This lot is 30 kilom. long and will necessitate the construction
of over 120 bridges, including one long bridge of fourteen arches each 12 metres
high, over the River Ab-i-Anarbar (Qum Rud) (degree sheet Tso. 9. J, squares D 2
and 3) at haye been ma( j e through His Majesty’s Legation as to
the possibility of purchasing in England for immediate shipment to Bandar
Shahpur a number of sleeping and restaurant cars^ These are requned for the
conveyance of their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess and then
guests on return from Egypt.
10. Refugees. .
Iranian deportees continue to arrive from the U.S.S.R. but ‘n decreasing
numbers. In the course of a recent conversation His Excellency Muzaffar Aalam,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, stated that the number of deportees was over 35 000.
The question of their disposal is under discussion. It is reliably stated that those
who have no relatives (however distant) in Iran with whom they- could be billeted
are to be sent well into the interior and the south. Iranian Mekran, \ezd and
the mountainous country of Luristan south-east of Shiraz have all been mentioned
as possible settlement areas.
[505
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