Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-23
Russia Reported
Massing Tanks,
Troops in Iran
Concentration Placed
At Gormsor, IS Miles
Southeast of Teheron
~ the Associated Press.


TEHERAN, Dec. %. - A gen.
eral staff officer of the Iranian
Government Army asserted to-
day that army intelligence re-
ported the presence of armed
civilians and an unusual con-
centration of Russian tanks and
troops at Garmsar," rail juno
ton IS miles southeast of Te-
heran.
The rail line runs north TO Shahi
and the Caspin seacoast in Ma
zanderan Province where IAN out
break of insurgency" within two
weeks was predicted yesterday by
Seyid zia, Iranian Parliament mem
Der. Mazanderan is east of Soviet
occupied Azerbaijan Province, in
which insurgents have set up a ma
tional government of Iranian Aver
baijan.
Meanwhile the new Azerbaijan
government, claiming autonomy
within the Iranian state, has an
nounced that it is willing to CO.
operate with the central govern
ment, but that it would insist on
conducting its own provincial affairs
with its own cabinet. The insurgent
government was willing to leave
only such affairs as would be han
died by a foreign ministry to the
cenral government in Teheran.
CThe Moscow radio broadcast
a Tass dispatch from Teheran
last night saying the Iranian
Azerbaijans warmly welcome"
the establishment of the new
government and that a mass
meeting of 10000 at Ardevil
adopted a resolution, declaring
December IL (the date the Tabriz
government was formed as an
historic day for hte Azerbaijan
people.~
Fate of Garrison Unknown.
Azerbaijan province has been oc-
cupied by Soviet troops since 1941,
when Axis agents were reported
active there, and the Russians later
guarded the lease-lend lifeline.
Earlier this week a traveller from
Tabriz, now designated as the in
surgents' capital, quoted the Aver
baijan premier, Jafar Pishevari, as
saying openly that the insurgent
movement was aided by Soviet
forces.
The general staff officer said he |
was not yet advised concerning the
fate of the government army gar
rison at Rezaich, believed sur
rounded by insurgents, but he said
other garrisons In the province had
fallen.
Premier Ibrahim Hakimi con-
ferred with American Ambassador
Wallace Murray. An embassy
spokesman said Mr. Murray asked
the premier If he intended ito make
further concessions to the demo-
cratic partisans in Azerbaijan."
Hakimi replied, the spokesman
said, that one concession would be
made The insurgent government
has demanded the right to teach
the Turkish language in addition to
Persian in the schools, and Hakimi
said he has advised the partisans
through the former governor general
of the province that he was agree
able to the teaching of Turkish.
Elections Are Ordered.
'Allahyar Saleh, the newly ap-
pointed interior minister, was re-
ceived officially by the Shah. His
first act has been to order provin-
eial governors to conduct elections
for provincial councils. Heretofore
the central government has not au-
thorized such elections.
Saleh was appointed Thursday by
Premier Hakimi. But the man he
was to replace in the Office, Khalil
Fahini, has refused to resign, and
under the constitution cannot be
deprived of his post unless he does
SO. Thus Iran, technically, has two
interior ministers
Parliament met today on budget
matters, but took no action on the
interior ministry tangle.