Coll 28/111(2) ‘Persia. Kermanshah – Political Diaries.’ [‎8r] (15/150)

oc^ January 1st and left for Ramadan on January
^btn. Re was still in Ramadan at the end of January.
2 ^ # H.M. Consul held a reception at the Consular
r *X s in dri ? e January 1st which was attended by a large number
of Persian officials and notables,
29 • ^ robbery occurred t the Kermanshah Petroleum
Coiupany 1 s compound at Qiutii bu near Kermanshah on the night 'of
January 4/5 when thieves cut the high steel fence surrounding
the area with a cold chisel and penetrated into the bungalow
of kr J. Sinclair, from which they stole clething and effects
valued at about Rls„ 20,000/-. The police had not traced the
thieves or recovered any of the stolen property by the end of
the month.
99 *, ^Some 3,600 feet of copper telephone wire belonging
to Messrs. Rerrnanshah Petroleum Company were stolen on the out
skirts of Kermanshah town on the night of January 9/10, the
third robbery of the kind which had taken place at the same
spot recently. Despite energetic protests to the local author-
iti/ 3 .neither the police nor the Gendarmerie, each of whom seemed
to think it was the other’s affair, succeeded in tracing the
stolen wire or arresting the culprits.
9 the middle of January reports were received that
Kermanshah Petroleum Comapny tankers passing through TAKISTAN
were being stopped.and # examined at the Red Army check post there.
The method of examinatioh, it was reported, was for a Red Army
man to break the Company’s seal on the .dajpn-hole on the top of
the tanker, open the cover and lower a lighted hurricane-lamp
into the aperture. The Company warned all their drivers to keep
well away from the tankers while these operations were in
progress. In a friendly manner and without making any complaint,
the matter was brought to the attention of the Soviet Consul
in Kermanshah who promised to it up with the Soviet author
ities in KaZVIR and a few day^ iter it was learned that the
examination had been stopped; was pointed out to the Soviet
Consul that quite apart from the risk of explosion or fire there
was nothihg to prevent dishonest chauffeurs from tampering with
tne contents of the tankers once the Company’s seal had been
broken. ’•
AMERICAN IRTEREdTS:
Major Garver, d.S. nir Attache, Tehran arrived at
Kermanshah by plane on January 9th accompanied by Colonel
Aikeny Col, Stetson of the U.S. Army and Miss Gebo of Federal
Economic Administration, Tehran. They left for Bagdad on 11th
January having been delayed owing to bad weather.
RUSSIAN INTERESTS:
33. . The Russian Vice-Consul, M. Kochelev, visited
Ramadan in January and exhibited some photographs and pictures
in* the Armenian Church. He also invited Armenians who wished
to return to their ’’home-land” in Soviet Armenia to register
their names and a numoer of the poorer Armenians did this.
They were, however, told that they could not expect to go to
Soviet Armenia before the next harvest.
34. The Assyrian community in Kermanshah was greatly
stirred by a rumour (apparently emanating from a Russian
source, though this has not been really proved) that it was
planned to establish a Christian state 100,000 miles square
in area stretching from'westLake Urmia to Mosul and
including Kirkuk and the oilf: is. The revenues of the new
/state