"F 80 ملف 82/34 I امتياز أ.ب.و.ك" [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎٢] (٤٣٦/٢٢٩)

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6. The paramount consideration is, of course, the fact that the Government
hardly counts at all, and that what little 1 know of the Shah is not derived from
personal contact.
7. As my despatches have shown for some time past, dissatisfaction is
incrrasing at an alarming rate; the malcontents assert that the only thing that
prevents dissatisfaction from manifesting itself in open rebellion is the deep-
seated belief that the present regime is whole-heartedly supported by His
Majesty's Government without whose previous consent no important step is taken.
The existence of this otherwise incredible belief is abundantly confirmed by the
fact that the first and unquestioning reaction of the general public, including
one member of the Cabinet, to the news of the cancellation of the Anglo-Persian
Oil Company concession was that the whole thing was simply a put-up job
betwen the Government and the company in order to render the extension of the
concession and an increase in the Persian Government's share in the profits
acceptable to the Majlis and shareholders respectively.
8. This being the state of affairs, it is not unnatural to feel a little uneasy
as to what will happen when it is generally realised that a detested regime has
issued an outrageous challenge to His Majesty's Government and that the
challenge has been taken up.
9. Again, it is impossible to feel entirely confident that the Shah^s political
acuteness has not been finally blunted by the enjoyment over seven years of a
gradually increasing and now absolute despotism. Ugly stories of his violence
circulate with increasing frequency, the latest being that he marched into Diba's
room at the Palace in order personally to dismiss him (see my despatch No. 508
of the 2nd December). Not finding him His Majesty vented his displeasure on
the furniture. In these circumstances it is natural to have in mind the
observation once made to me by a profound student* of affairs that no man can
for long support the mental strain imposed by unlimited and unquestioned power,
and therefore to wonder whether the Shah will realise that a swift retreat is
the only issue from the untenable position into which he has recklessly thrust
himself.
10. Finally, the Soviet Government may welcome the opportunity of fishing
in troubled waters, without running any great risk.
11. The fact, however, that I have recorded these forebodings which at
a distance must appear unreal, does not mean that I do not fully realise that the
present incident may very properly be considered as the sort of case which must
be dealt with strictly on its merits without regard for events which may possibly
ensue, as the result of the dramatic shattering of one of the bases of the Shah's
strength or in consequence of an outburst of Imperial rage.
12. In a brilliant passage at the end of Turkey in Europe, "Ulysses"
wrote of Turkey as a sword with a contempt for all that can be cut and how the
blunting of the sword had turned its contempt into stupidity. I trust that
Sir Charles Eliot will not turn in his grave at a brutal bowdlerisation if I say
that the general impression of the Shah is that he is a boot with a contempt for
all that can be kicked, and express the hope that he can still distinguish between
what can be kicked with impunity and enjoyment and a hard and unyielding
surface. I fancy that most Persians would reassure me on this point.
13. I am sending copies of this despatch to the Foreign Secretary to the
Government of India (No. 249), the Hon. the Political Resident in the Persian
Gulf at Bushire (No. 213) and His Majesty's Ambassador at Bagdad (No. 120).
I have, &c.
n. H. HOARE.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Mr. Hoare to M. Feroughi.
M. le Ministre, Tehran, Decembers, 1932.
HIS Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have had under
consideration your Highness' note of the 3rd December replying to my note of the
2nd December in regard to the Persian Government's cancellation of the Anglo-
Persian Oil Company's concession. I have the honour to inform your Highness
that His Majesty's Government are unable to admit the validity of a unilateral