Coll 28/103 ‘Persia. Perso Russian Relations’ [‎20v] (40/190)

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circumstances were against this; not being at war with Japan the Russians could
reasonably be expected to withdraw forthwith; but we needed for the purpose of
the war in the Far East to protect the oil area and the American air-base in the
south, ihe most His Majesty’s Government could do was to assure the Persian
Government t-hat they were prepared to consider sympathetically the Persian
Government s request that the withdrawal of Allied troops from Persia should
before the final date fixed by the treaty and were discussing the question
with the boviet and American Governments. At that time His Majesty’s Govern- 1
ment were not prepared to withdraw their troops except pari passu with the
Russians. It was significant that at this moment two Persian newspapers which
had always followed the Soviet line-one of them the known mouthpiece of the
Soviet Embassy, Rahbar —published articles maintaining that the evacuation of
fore ‘f n , tro °Ps would simply put the country back where it was in the
days of Reza bhah. This theory had been voiced in pro-Russian papers before
its basis being the absurd theory that Reza Shah was under ‘"imperialist”
on^ht n nnt tn U K th « VT more explicit, and declared that evacuation
ought not to be effected until satisfactory military and political conditions should
dwreftv nf 1 U Q P 91 hlS P rob . abl y the flrst h int that the Russians were keeping
tne treaty of 1921 as a weapon of reserve. 1
13 Eady in July before the Potsdam Conference, His Majesty’s Govern
ment stated that their object was to relax the Russian grip on North Persia and
nrnn SS o t ^ ■ Rus ® lan J; roo P s ou t of Persia before the treaty date. Their
the . ^ USSIans that th ere should be pari passu withdrawal by stages
and that the military representatives should work out the details had received no
reply. It seemed clear that the Russians did not favour withdrawal of their
forces in the near future; they probably hoped by remaining to obtain such a firm
hold on Jsorth Persia that they would be able to establish and perpetuate their
domination of the Persian Government. It was clear that if they P wfre successful
the consequences for His Majesty’s Government and for their imperial interests
m South Persia might be most serious, but the most that could be P obtained from
Tphrp V1Gt Government M the Potsdam Conference was an agreement to evacuate
T e hran—- an agreement which was carried out with typical Soviet disingenuous
ness; although loudly announced as having been completed on the 20th September
was not in fact completed until December—if an evacuation can be considered
h?l W /l! ch e ^ Ves - lar g e numbers of Russians, out of uniform but
billeted together and with undefined duties. During the London Conference in
ptember the Secretary of State made another effort to secure an early partial
1 V 945 theTe shouM be n^Britfsh t ^ ^ pr £ p0Sed that ^ the middl e of December
yao mere snould be no British troops m Persia except in the southern oil area
baLan^allV^^ m 5 1 ludm g. Andimishk a nd no Soviet forces except in Azer
baijan all British and Russian troops would, of course be withdrawn from
Persia by the 2nd March. M. Molotov would go no further than tZitt?n“
down t:le t r tbclrawal . of troops should be effected within the period laid
dr'wai m m,Vht T b lP d artlte ^ r ® at y and suggesting that the final plan of with-
drawal might be discussed towards the end of the said period He carefully
: oi tvtrr e ut \ the period wou,d 6nd ° n the 2nd ^ 3
a spite of M. Molotovs negative attitude the evacuation of British
troops proceeded rather faster than if he had anreed to our nhn Z
nimahad ^ November, the Hamadian, Kermanshah-Bisitun and Khor-
umabad areas had been evacuated and no British troops under Paiforce
remained m Persia, except those from Andimishk southwards while a loner ran°e
squadron operating in East Persia under the orders of the Government of Jndn
had been removed by the 28th November Meanwhile Russis with,., „rv a
mask, and on the 20th November had used SoyTer^ps ^^revent a
of Persian troops and gendarmes at Sharifabad, near Qazfin from procLdiZ
to Azerbaijan, where the Democrats ” had just seized Mianeh Til p Ceedln o
also re-occupied Kerei—20 miles from Tehran—in W™. Ilf 1 Russians
November, made representations to the Soviet Government, proposing tW all
Soviet, British and American troops should be withdrawn from Persia ll th
1st January, 1946 referring to the Tehran Declaration regarding Pe an eni
tonal integrity &c and setting forth the American view that the Persian
Governmen ought to have full liberty to move its armed forces throughout Persia
as it saw fit. The Soviet Government, in their reply declared thM tbo t n
Declaration did not affect either the number of Soviet troops in Persia or the
period during which they might stay, and declared their intention to Ibide hv
the treaty of 1942 ,n spite of the fact that the right of introduction of Sovie't