خارجي ٤١/٥٠٠١ "بلاد فارس - الشؤون الداخلية (إرساليات متنوعة)". [ظ‎‎٨‎٨] (٢٤٨/١٧٦)

8
Persian A rmy.
SO. No real progress has been made with the reform of the Persian army
which remains on the whole demoralised, underpaid, underfed, and discontented.
Its senior officers embezzle in increasing degree the funds allotted to them for
the upkeep and feeding of their troops and animals; its junior officers steal what
they can to keep themselves and their families alive.
31. General Ridley’s scheme, whereby payment and supply will be -
drawn from the control of commanders and centralised in depots at each provin
cial headquarters, to be supervised by American officers and controlled directly
b} the War Office, meets with much opposition. A beginning has been made in
Tehran, but even after the implementation of the scheme had been initiated with
the Shah’s approval, General Ridley met with so little co-operation from the
General Staff that he felt obliged to threaten to inform his Government that it
was useless for him and his mission to remain here.
32. The Shah continues to insist on his right to exercise executive control
of the army, even in matters of detail, and on the direct responsibility of the
General Staff to him as Commander-in-chief rather than to the Government.
There is continual discord and very little co-operation between the Chief of the
General Staff, who is determined to limit the influence and control of the American
advisers to the minimum that will avert their resignation, and the Minister for
War, who, perhaps not entirely for altruistic reasons, would welcome a degree
of control by the American advisers that would restrict the embezzlement of army
funds and limit the pow r er of the General Staff. The Shah gives no greater
support to the American advisers than does his Chief of the General Staff. On
-'y A er) ^ Ih 0 9 n e hand he is unwilling to admit that he and his officers have any need of
foreign advice; on the other, while aware of the need for reform, he fears to
initiate or support any action that would be unpopular with those senior officers
on whose attachment to himself he mistakenly relies for the maintenance of his
position. The most flagrant cases of neglect of duty or w T orse go unpunished.
33. General Ridley works with great patience and perseverance. His staff
has recently been increased by three American officers, making a total of six in
addition to himself, and he has asked the United States Government for more.
But his position, his responsibilities and his powers are still undefined, and the
terms of his contract are still under discussion with Washington. If he can obtain
a band of Persian officers of his own choosing to w r ork w T ith him he may yet be
able to effect satisfactory reforms.
34. Without those reforms it is certain that the large credits allotted this
year to the army —100 million tomans—will be largely wasted. The credit would
be justified if the funds were to be devoted to the purposes for which they have
been demanded—the payment of a living w^ge to junior officers and the adequate
feeding oj the men, essential preliminaries to the creation of a disciplined army
of sufficient strength and efficiency to restore order throughout the country and
so permit an ultimate reduction in military expenditure. But apart from the
wastage due to fraud there is useless extravagance on establishments that serve
no useful purpose in present conditions, as, for example, a Staff College teaching
pre-war French theories. Such vain trimmings the Shah pretends are essential
f o maintain the morale of his officers, whereas they merely pander to their vanity *
and distract them from the tasks before them—the necessity for the fundamental
reform of administration and the restoration of order in their own country.
35. There is perhaps a slight improvement in the sentiments of the Persian
army towards the British. In Pars and in Khuzestan assistance given to the
Persian troops by the British military. authorities has been appreciated. The
visit of six Persian officers to Cairo and the El Alamein battlefields in March-
April had an excellent effect; His Majesty s Government’s offer to train twelve
Persian air force officers in England was very well received, and a request has
been made by the Persian Minister for War that Persian officers should be
allowed to attend courses of instruction in Mid East.
Engineers’ Strike.
36. Towards the end of the government of Qawam es Saltaneh differences
arose between the engineers of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the
Government with regard to conditions of employment. The demands of the
engineers related to their salaries, and also to the control of technical affairs and
departments concerned with technical matters, which they maintained should be
m their hands. A Bill on the subject had been prepared but, with the fall of the
Government, it had not been pursued. The engineers became more and more