Evening star., 1945-12-02
Iranian Revolt Declared
Backed by Russian Agents
Separatist Movement to Bring Northern Oil Area
Under Moscow Influence Result of
Long and Careful Planning
By Constantine Browu.

tine Br0agn.
fields were developed by any other power
than Russia the wells in the Caucasus
would become drained and one of the
most important Russian oil centers
would thus be lost.
Some Officers Desert.
Hence, there is no reason why the
Russians should not be granted In the
north the same privileges the British
have possessed for many years in the
south. But the Tudeh party does not
believe the situation in Iran can be
settled satisfactorily by merely sharing
oil advantages between two powers. In
order to prosper, the whole country
must be placed under regime similar
to that in Moscow. Encouraged by
| Russian agents, rebellions have started
| with the aim of first detaching Aver
| baijan from the rest of the country and
| later marching on Teheran and taking
| the government from the present
':feudal" regime.
A number of officers of the Iranian
Army were persuaded to desert and join
| the ranks of the rebels They have
former guerrilla detachments which soon
will be incorporated into a national
army The Russian authorities are
providing them with all the necessary
equipment to fight the rather weak and
poorly equipped army of the central gov
eminent. The leader of the armed
forces is a well-known character, Ismail
Jangali Gsmail, the jungle mani who
has a personal score to settle with the
present King of Iran
Ishmail is the nephew of Persian
rebel leader, Mira Koutchek Kan jan
gall, jungle fighter who placed his
services at the disposal of the Russians
near the end of the World War, when
| the British were in occupation in Azer-
baijan. In a series of encounters the
uncle was surrounded by central gov
ernment troops, frozen to death, was
decapitated and his head was sent to
Teheran and placed on public exhibition
as trophy. Ria Kahn Pehlevi, the
father of the present King, was at that
time the tool of the British, although
he had not yet been elevated to the
throne. In country with feudal tradi-
tions like Iran the family of a chieftain
must avenge the honor of one of its
members, and Ismail has now placed
his services at the disposal of the Rus
slams, who expect to make good use Of
this family vendetta.
Receive Russian Aid.
T The indoctrination of the population
in Northern Iran is proceeding satisfac-
torily through the activities of the Tudeh
party. Most of the leaders draw their
income directly from the Russian EN-
bassy or the consulates throughout the
country. The income of the party itself
comes from number of sources such as
dues, sale of tickets to various movie
performances provided by the Red Army
and from the Russian government
through various methods.
/ The party headquarters has received
a consignment of food or other types
of supplies from the u S. S. R.-a very
scarce thing in Persia-for a nominal
consideration. The supplies are being
sold to the people at black market prices
and the proceeds go into the party
treasury.
The railroads are in the hands of the
Russian government. At frequent in
tervals the Russian high command as
signs a number of cars to the party
which in turn sells space to the rich
merchants. Such transactions yield
approximately 10000, 900 tanans (about
s30!0oo,o0o at the official rate of ex-
change) month to the party.
But when these subsidies prove in
sufficient the rich merchants and land
owners are "raided." That is to say,
representatives of the party call on the
various rich men and tell them they
need certain sum at a given time.
The wealthy people, while not in SYM
pathy with the movement, know that
they must comply with these requests.
The presence of the Red Armies in that
area makes them realize that it would
be useless to appeal for protection from
the government, which is unable to pro-
tect itself. The requested amount, there.
fore, is handed over gracefully. It must
be said in fairness to the organizers of
these raids that certificates of loyalty"
are handed out to these angels to
protect them against possible unauthor-
lied racketeers.
Workers Forced to Participate.
The rich land and factory owners are
! required to assist the party in other
ways. When meeting followed by q
parade is scheduled for a certain day.
,, it's organizers do not want to take the
chance that the affair will flop. Factory
, workers and peasants are ordered by
; their employers to attend the meetings
and shout whatever slogans they are
ordered by the party to shout. In most
cases these ignorant people have no idea
what it's all about But that is of no
consequence. People in cities see large
gatherings of men and women shouting
and screaming, Down with the op-
pressing government, long live the DEM
ocratic party and the U. S. s. r." and
they gain the impression that the Com
munists are really strong.
At these large public gatherings the
Russian Army is most helpful. Red
soldiers will stand guard against any
untoward incident, set up microphones
and loud speakers and occasionally pro-
vide martial entertainment. The Rus
sian commander of the area where the
meetings are held commanders houses
for the use of the out-of -toWnerS either