"ملف ١١/ ٤٤ الشخصيات الرائدة في العراق وإيران والمملكة العربية السعودية" [و‎‎١‎٩] (٩٦/٣٧)

Majlis. He is both honest and energetic—a very
rare combination in Persia. In matters non-political
he tends to have very wild ideas which he defends
with unreasonable obstinacy.
The comparative lack of success of his party was
due first to furious Soviet opposition, secondly, to
his having been out of contact with the country for
twenty-three years, and thirdly to the impossibility
of reconciling his progressive ideas with the con
servatism of many of his followers on whose
financial aid he was dependent Speaks French
and English.
Has something of the mystic in him
155. Tadayun, Sayyid Muhammad
Born about 1884, a native of Birjand in East
Persia; educated in Tehran, where he graduated and
became a schoolmaster. After the split up of the
original Democrat party in 1912, Tadayun became
the leader of one of the more important Democrat
factions. He was elected a Deputy from Tehran
to the fourth term of the Majlis, and from Birjand
to the fifth and sixth terms. Was elected President
of the Majlis in the second half of the fifth term,
and again at the beginning of the sixth term. In
February 1927 he was appointed Minister of Edu
cation, but in December he resigned that appoint
ment owing to disagreement with his colleagues in
/'e Cabinet, but he resumed office nine days later
■'*c the personal request of the Shah. On the 7th
January, 1928, the Shah ordered him to resign, and
his fall was said to be due to the personal animosity
towards him of Teymourtache. In June 1930 he
was appointed Governor of Kerman.
He was recalled from Kerman in March 1931, and
he appears to believe that one reason for his recall
was that he was too friendly with Lieutenant-
Colonel Noel, then British Consul.
Returned to politics on the fall of Reza Shah;
was Minister of Education in Feroughi’s Cabinet of
1941-42, and spoke eloquently in favour of the
Tripartite Treaty of 1942. Minister of Food after
Farrukh in 1942; resigned in July 1943. Minister
of the Interior, September 1943, and did well in
running the elections. But was not included in the
reshuffled Cabinet of December 1943. The
Russians, who for some reason are against him,
seem to have secured his exclusion.
^>56. Tahiri, Dr. Hadi
Born at Yezd about 1888. Son of a mulla. Land-
owner and proprietor of various concerns at Yezd.
A great rival of the Nawwab family of Yezd.
Elected to the Majlis on various occasions, and has
served as president of the Financial Commission
of the Majlis. In the thirteenth Majlis was one of
the vice-presidents and was considered one of the
leading members of the Majlis. Served on the
Committee of the Anglo-Iranian Relief Fund, 1943,
and was helpful in providing local knowledge. Was
largely responsible for the success of Seyyid Zia-ed-
Din in the Yezd elections of 1943, thereby incurring
the dislike and distrust of the Shah. Very friendly
to us. Accused of various peculations at Yezd, but
nothing has been proved, and he is considered one
of the most solid and reliable Deputies.
In the fourteenth Majlis he was, with Sayyid
Kazim Jalili Yazdi, the most influential Deputy.
Bitterly anti-Soviet he worked hard to maintain the
Majlis majority against Soviet pressure. Though
very slow in speech and manner he is extremely
astute and had a profound knowledge of his Majlis
colleagues and particularly of their weak points.
Though patriotic he would not allow his patriotism
to interfere unduly with his personal interests in
Yezd. He has a congenital aversion to the obvious
course and delights to achieve his objectives by
devious means through the agency of others. It
would be idle to pretend that he has progressive
ideas. Although ostensibly on excellent terms with
Sayyid Kazim Jalili, he is secretly jealous of him,
a sentiment that is reciprocated.
Arrested November 1946 for political activities
against Qavam-us-Saltaneh. Released February
1947.
157. Taqizadeh, Hasan
Born in Tabriz about 1880, the son of a small
preacher. He was educated in his native town, and
used to haunt the booksellers’ shops, where he
showed great eagerness to acquire knowledge. In
his early youth he was an ardent Nationalist, and
was connected with the Nationalist movement in
Persia from the beginning. He was elected to the
first term of the Majlis and was one of its most
prominent members. Mohammad Ali Shah hated
and feared him, and, when the Shah made a coup
d’fitat in 1908 against the Majlis, Taqizadeh took
refuge in His Majesty’s Legation. The demand
made by the Shah that he should be given up was
refused, and Taqizadeh was eventually amnestied,
on the condition that he went to Europe. He
visited London and Cambridge, but returned to
Tabriz at the end of 1908. He was elected to the
second term of the Majlis in 1909, and, after the
capture of Tehran by the Nationalist forces and the
abdication of Muhammad Ali Shah in July 1909,
Taqizadeh became a prominent member of the
Nationalist Committee, which was set up to decide
on the Government of the country. Went to
Europe in 1910. He was elected in his absence to
the third and fourth terms of the Majlis, but did not
take his seat. He stayed in Europe and America
during the whole period from 1914 to 1923, and was
for years in Berlin, where he edited a paper called
Kaveh. For publishing certain articles of an anti-
Islamic nature he was excommunicated by the
Mujtehids. He negotiated the Perso-Soviet Com
mercial Treaty in Moscow in February 1921, and
finally returned to Persia in 1924. He was elected
to the fifth term of the Majlis 192L-26, and to the
sixth term in 1926. He visited America again in
1926 as Persian delegate to the Philadelphia Exhi
bition. Appointed Governor-General of Khorasan
in January 1929; he was recalled in May and
appointed Persian Minister in London, where he
remained until April 1930, when he returned to
Persia and became Minister of Roads and Communi
cations. In August 1930 he was appointed
Minister of Finance in addition.
Taqizadeh fell from grace in September 1933,
for reasons which are obscure. The Shah is said to
have suspected him of intrigue with Majlis members
in connexion with the purchase of gold. He was,
however, soon re-employed as Minister in Paris.
Recalled from Paris in August 1934, but
obtained prolonged leave of absence and did not
return to Persia. Appointed Iranian representative
at the Congress of Orientalists at Rome in
September 1935.
He is married to a German and talks German
fluently. He speaks English and French less well.
Appointed Minister in London by Feroughi
1941, and has been suggested as Prime Minister on
more than one occasion since then, but he has
always preferred to stay in London. Became
ambassador in 1944.
Headed Persian Delegation to the U.N.O. in
London in January 1946 and ably presented the
Persian case when the Security Council considered
the Perso-Russian dispute about Azerbaijan.
Appointed to act as Persian representative in
winding up the League of Nations in Geneva,
March 1946.
Elected Deputy for Tabriz in fifteenth Majlis and
decided to return to Persia.