Coll 28/120 ‘Persia. Ahwaz – Consular diaries.’ [‎107r] (214/669)

Ruortagfi ot l Jl* leapt 3000 tonr peenr inevitable, it ip, of coarne, nol
unli :el t , l if t t ie entiraatep for trie requirementf of tiie outride townr
are pOi.iev.MRt liberal, u d possible ttiat in tine a *^uf^.^.tently large
number oi' tne townppeopie of /diwaz will rerui.ie tiieTf" iTdr*nsi ~he \>ite
of eating bread baked by their faiailier to e vsd'le the daily ip^ue
ii/waa to be reduced; neither porpibiiit/, however, peei ip firm
pro irSi to Juptify optlmip-i.
-> Deliveries in the areas owned by landlords anoint to about
^ ti t ie undertaki igp; t.iip rate of progress* considering the latenesg
of tno winter crops, subsequent diversion of labour to tne purmier
sowings, before the completion of the grain threshing, and a Tir
Jal devoid of wind- suited in for winnowing-, is not impatipfactory.
Jn the khalippejat areas (lands owned by peasant proprietors;, parti
cularly in the Aliwcz district, progress has been ver^ poor and t ie 1
latdpt reports show deliveries of 445 tons against undertakings of
,;*45 tons. t u a : • re Wf any hope of increaping the
rate of deliveiy, which at the present rate of progress*/ rabp are
beginning to leave for thr date gathering and have prepu.aably no
intention of leaving their grain available for the Persian authorities
failure in this area would, of course, be particularly important,
r?ince under takings from there amounted to one third of the quantity
earmarked for feeding Ahwaz town. A
(ll) A further oifficiity ‘.uat has emerged is that of the
undertakings so far given over 42 are for the surrender of barley
us op oseo to wheat. The Persian autaoritieo feel that any de ; ree
of adulteration of wheat over 85 would produce disc stent on a
^eale wiiich they could :ot control. 1 an Director of Finance states
thrjt he hopes to receive ingtructiona fro i Tehran that 1500 tons of
wheat flour >orted by^ U. k.C.C* and now in Ahwaz will be placed at
his disposal, ’he precise terms jj tiie trangactio however, are
obscure: if the amount ip being given outright to the rJivvaz a tthori— |
ties, it will no some way to solving the problem of the excess of
burl v as ’vr.il 3 * eeting 1 ue total deficit of 3000 tons; 1 it iap
to^epaid by barley, it will help with the forme] >roblem; if it hag
to ue repaid in wheat, it will servo no useful purpose at all, as ther
is now sufficient grain available for Ahwaz to areak trie hoarders* and
bakers’ ring if that organisation cun be broken by supplying bread
at givern.ient prices for a few aonths.
( s IB) "he Coraniggioner of Do lien for Khuzistan, wiio is ot, of
courpn, responsible for frontier control, reports that urkigh and
English sovereigns bought in Tehran are being snuggled "in consi
derable quantities * into Iraq where their price is very much hi pier
than in Iran.
(13) An officer of the U 8 AA and the Persian officer in cha^Crge
of the Food °upply Department of the Iranian "tate Hallway visited
Dizful on 2bth July with an order on the local finance Department to
make over to then 100 tons of grain for the use of the Hallway ^taff.
in local r k ttis-5-Uaraie refused to rna .e over tne grain without a
direct order from Tehran ag the amounts ox grain collected were
destu led for the feed Dizful town. In the meantime a rumour
bad gone round the town that the Allies were talcing the grain and it
is reported that preparations had been made to hold up and wreck the
lorries carrying away the grain. The price of wheat immediately rose
bO . jjeacii ian< lorf s ars reported + . . save said that they hat;
surrendered grain only on the unde intending that it would be used for
feeding the poor of the locality and that if the grain werb taken
away none of the outsdanfing undertakings would be im
17. General.
(14)
The ..iairi A or in t has been the repercussion^
arrest and expulsion of Abrishoaikar and his associates reported i 1
para 13 of the last f \hwaz diary. Itjwag oo«&(’ 1 .ei,
knowledge th taint 1 ^ehr' u< oliee
for his part in the arrest hou bo on to the Departaiont of Jastie'-
in iUiwaz for enq^^y^ it weg^^tpfeTaily felt, uuevn r f tnut tho