'تقارير إدارية عن الخليج الفارسي، ١٩٤٥ [-١٩٤٦]' [و‎‎١‎٩‎٥] (٤١٤/٤٠٢)

^ I
- 7 -
shahr and^AbadM^tn^^h 3 / 116 9 arr J son Commander, Khorram-
Major Gulsari! wAo r«f«^ August, when he was relieved by
of the year. retained charge of this post for the rest
authorities in craft requisitioned by the British
during the vearThf E etu r ned to the Persian Government
were return®^ I; v , The ®otor-boats "Chinchilla" and "Karun"
boats "ShahhL? Khorramshahr on the 20th ApriJi and the gun-
se^ioe of ^ " s hahrukh", which were in the
Khorramshahr on tho ^ liurin £ the war, arrived at
vati"Thev wp)r^ h y es f ort ed by the H.M.I.S. "Sona-
Naval Offi^L t^ handed over to a emission of 6 Persian
0 <iays iater by the CoBBianding Officer of
Since then ti i-?i, re P resen tative of the Royal Indian Navy,
man ^ J 4 21 no effort has been made by the Persians
^ the vessils, which have deteriorated
through disuse and gradually became unseaworthy.
0c ^°ber, an effort was made by the authorities to
^ v e f sel , s for naval action against the tribes
aroona Suw^ire, but only one gunboat was persuaded to get up
steam. After she had propelled herself down the Shatt-el-
Arab in a most erratic manner, it was discovered that she
carried no ammunition suitable for her 12-pounder guns, which
were of British make^ and she therefore had to return "to port*
It was decided during the year, that salvage operations
in respect of the two wrecked vessels - the ''Palang 11 and "Hu-
mai 11 - should be an Admiralty commitment and, at the end of
the year, arrangements were made to accommodate the salvage
party on arrival.
The former Persian Naval Headquarters at Khorramshahr
were used as Military Barracks throughout the year. The Per
sian Government however have since decided to revive the Per
sian Navy and Colonel Zelli was appointed Naval Officer Com
manding and arrived in Khorramshahr in December.
g^urtfry i
On the transfer of responsibility for policing this
area from the Allies to the Persians, the state of internal
security deteriorated almost immediately. Armed robberies,
violent assaults and actw of hooliganism in Abadan and Khorram
shahr towns increased in number and audacity, and the Police
force proved to be quite Insufficient in numoers and equipment
for the task of controlling the situation, which reached its
climax during the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company labour strike in
July and the subsequent riots, when British and Indian employ
ees of the Company were frequently attacked and beaten up on
the roads. The imposition of Martial Law and a curfew did
little to improve the general security position, which was
aggravated by the arrest of the Chief of Police, Abadan, and
his deputy. This undesirable state of affairs was also due
in some measure to the activities of the Tudeh party, at whose
meetings blood-thirsty anti-British speeches and threats
against the lives of Englishmen were uttered as an encourage
ment to acts of violence and hooliganism. At one period, it
was suspected that weapons were actually being turned out by
members of the party in the Oil Company's workshops, but
surprise raids by the Company's Security Department failed to
substantiate this.
In October, when lawlessness in the Oil Refinery area
was /-
■ ■ v |
i
ii
' jpl
' v- -.-V'
i ■
1
J