خارجي ٤١/٥٠٠١ "بلاد فارس - الشؤون الداخلية (إرساليات متنوعة)". [و‎‎٦‎٨] (٢٤٨/١٣٥)

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by getting rid of Ahmedi and also of Tadayyun played a considerable part in
the reconstruction of the Government, and this suspicion has been confirmed by
the Soviet Consul-General who informed His Majesty’s Consul-General at
Tabriz that the removal of these two Ministers was decided upon during Marshal
Stalin’s visit because they were not favourably disposed towards the Soviet
Union. The Shah, too, may have been eager to act at once on the advice which
^^e says he received, from Marshal Stalin, to govern with a firm hand.
/> 12. My advice to the Prime Minister, who asked for my views beforehand,
was to wait until the new Majlis assembled, and not to reconstruct the Cabinet
in the interregnum and thereby arouse strong criticism and perhaps cause a
barren constitutional struggle. It was not, I said, that I had ever held a high
opinion of the Majlis; but a new House had been elected, and now that the
major difficulties in the supply of currency, the income tax and foreign policy
had been got out of the way, the Majlis would have an easier task, and it would
be better to give the Deputies a chance to behave reasonably. The Prime
Minister affected to agree, but it is unlikely that he offered serious resistance
to the Shah’s resolve to get in his own nominees. The Shah is perhaps regretting
already that he acted hastily, for one of his proteges is already in trouble. The •
workmen of the Saltanatabad powder factory made a demonstration, demanding
that increases in wages should be granted to workmen in State factories such
as had already been accorded to officials. It appears that the new Minister of
Commerce and Industry, General Shafa’i, who went to the factory to try to
settle the dispute, lost his head and fired a revolver, and that a bullet hit the
ground and killed one of the workmen by a ricochet. It should have been quite
easy to hold an enquiry and exonerate Shafa’i, who perhaps had some justifica
tion for firing a warning shot; but Shafa’i was foolish enough to deny that he
had fired at all, and the Shah, in a panic lest blame should fall on himself, who
had pushed Shafa'i into the Cabinet, has tried to suppress or to rig the enquiry.
13. There being no Majlis to which to present the Cabinet, Soheily
contented himself with making a short statement instead of publishing the
4 usual formal programme. The statement said that as foreign affairs were now
established on a firm basis, the Government hoped to pay more attention to home
affairs; all were invited to assist the Government, especially the press. There
will certainly be questions in the Majlis, when it meets, about Shafa’i and the
man who was killed, and it does not at present seem likely that a Cabinet which
includes Shafa’i will be approved by the Majlis, which may also interest itself
in the obvious attempt of the Shah to run the army. The "date of the opening
of the Majlis has been officially given as the 22nd January, but none of the ov ^
preliminary steps to that end have been taken and there are signs that attempts
will be made from above to postpone the opening still longer. When it is
remembered that the Deputy’s pay does not begin to run until the new Majlis
has met and his credentials have been verified, the opposition to any attempt to
postpone the opening of the Majlis can be easily calculated.
14. Not much progress has been made in the elections, except those of
Tehran, which came to an end on the 28th December, after a good deal of
confused electioneering, in which the most vocal agents were those of the Tudeh
party. The intervention of the municipality was denounced by the Govern
ment and the president of the municipality, Fazlullah Bahramy, and his
assistant, Usanlou, were suspended from their functions until the 3 rd January,
by which time the voting was finished. The Tehran votes have not yet been
fully counted, but a disturbing feature of the .votes which have so far been
counted is that the pro-German mulla, Abul-Qasim Kashani, wanted by us for
fifth-column activities, occupies quite a high place in the list. Dr. Matin
Daftary, arrested at the instigation of the Russians, is also in the running.
t Elsewhere, particularly in Azerbaijan, and in Ears, the elections are mostly in
suspense. Enough Deputies have been elected to form the quorum of sixty-nine
sufficient for the opening of the new assembly, but not more than sixty-two have
* yet reached Tehran.
15. There are definite signs that the Russians are taking a much greater
interest in the elections in the northern area. It appears that Kambakhsh. the
Communist, is after all going to be returned for Kazvin; Parvin Gunabadi for
Sabzevar; Iraj Iskandari for Sari, and perhaps two or three similar representa
tives of the extreme left for Tabriz. Dr. Radmanish and Dr. Kishavarz both
active members of the Tudeh party, have already been elected for Lahijan and
Pahlevi respectively. The Soviet Charge d’Affaires, M. Maximov, appears to
have adroitly obtained the election of most of these candidates by various
manipulations. The Shah is taking an active interest in the elections also; his
candidate at Bandar Abbas, Dr. Misbahzadeh, is being supported by certain officials