ملف ٥٦٦\١٩٢١ "بلاد فارس: ملخصات استخباراتية للملحق العسكري" [ظ‎‎٢‎٥] (٨١٨/٥٩)

LJ
Union of Clergy with the ulama telegraphed on the 10th August to the Prime Minister
“Mullahs are discontented at 7°"!' det ^ ask tenniTsion t^continue^theh
“ measures taken by you to be in vain, and asfe pernnss
“ journey to Kum.” ^
8 The Union of Clergy in Tehran ordered the closing of the bazaars both m
•ssa^r-Jx r/rtrr *• rsr*4S
the translation of which is as follows.
“ The public know that, owing to the calamitous event of the expulsion of
“ ulama from the Holy Lands, the Guild of Merchants in the capital and provincial
“ cities have taken every step which they were religiously entitled to take, and
“ have thereafter been awaiting the result of the negotiations earned on by the
“ Government in order to find a satisfactory solution for these unfortunate events.
“ In view of the failure of the G-overnment to reach a favourable conclusion m
“ the negotiations, their Holinesses have left Kermanshah m order to settle down
“ i n Kum. The merchants and different guilds of the capital therefore avail them-
“ selves of this opportunity to proclaim for the second time their hatred against the
“ oppressive poliev of the British, and announce holidays on the 23rd, 24th and
“ 25th of Zikaadeh for the purpose of praising the ecclesiasts, and they beg to assure
“ them of their absolute allegiance and complete obedience.
(Signed) “ Body of Union of Merchants, and
“ Body of Union of Guilds.”
9. Reports from Vcinous sources show that Ayatullah Zadeh Khahssi, who is leading
the anti-British agitation in Tehran on behalf of the Irak mullahs, is working in close
touch with the committee of the “ Ishtamayun ” party m Tehran and in close touch
with the Russian Legation, by whom he is assisted financially.
It is reliably reported that Shumyatsky sent 1,000 tomans to Khalissi on the
7 th August with the following message :—
“ Please accept this money from a revolutionary Government to assist you to
“ pay for the telegraphic expenditure which has been incurred by you in connection
“ with the deportation of the Irak mullahs.”
10 The anti-British campaign in the press has increased during the past week.
Examples are given in the Appendix.*
11. With reference to intelligence summary No. 31, paragraph 15, dated the
4th August, the two R.A.F. aeroplanes returned safely to Bagdad on the 11th August.
The War Minister and his Chief of the Staff were invited during the week to examine
the aeroplanes and to be given a trial flight, and on their refusal the invitation was
extended to an3 r officers of the Persian army who might wish to take advantage of the
opportunity. Not a single officer accepted the invitation, though several expressed their
desire to do so, but were afraid to ask the War Minister for the necessary permission.
The attitude of the War Ministry in this respect is undoubtedly due to political reasons
in connection with the anti-British agitation caused by the Irak ulama incident.
Previous to the arrival of the aeroplanes Reza Khan expressed on more than one
occasion his desire to examine the aeroplanes with a view to purchasing some of a
similar type, and was anxious that some of his officers should be given trial flights.
The cousin of the Shah, Prince Azad-es-Suitaneh, was given a flight on the
10th August over Tehran and neighbourhood, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
12. Persian troops in 1921 captured a Russian aeroplane which crashed in Gilan
and was abandoned by the Bolsheviks. This was conveyed to Tehran and was handed
over to a Persian Armenian to put into working order, who had informed che War
Minister that he had been trained as a pilot in America and was also an experienced
mechanic. The latter has been working on the machine for eighteen months, and by
getting certain spare parts made in the bazaar he managed to get the engine to function
somewhat spasmodically. The woodwork of the machine is badly warped, and his ideas
of rigging are decidedly crude. The sight of British aeroplanes flying over the town
evidently brought him up to the scratch to attempt to fly this machine, probablv urged to
do so by the military authorities, from whom he has been drawing pay for many months.
* Not printed.