An immediate blessing brought to Iran by the intervention of Great Britain and Russia, for the purpose of eliminating Axis activities in that country, has been the abdication of Shah Riza Kahn Pahlevi, and the ending of a ruthless tyranny which has extended over the last sixteen years. His son, who succeeds him, promises to rule constitutionally. During his rule, the ex-Shah who rose from a sergeant to govern his country, amassed a huge fortune by his trade in monopolies and grinding taxation, maintaining a police system as efficient as the Gestapo and stamping out all forms of opposition to his rapacious exploitation of the nation. He had been wise enough to permit his senior officers in the Army to have their share of the rich pickings, but they were unable to help him retain power, because the rank and file was as hostile to the ex-Shah as was the rest of the population. What happened was that the intervention of Great Britain and Russia, for an entirely different purpose from bringing about a revolution, provided the Cabinet with an opportunity of telling the ex-Shah that he would have to go.
There is evidence that at the last moment he sought British assistance which appears to have been denied him, and rightly so, and when he realized that there was no further hope for him, he abdicated and so probably saved his life, There is every reason to believe that if the country had risen against him, as there was a grave danger it would, he would most likely have met his end either by assassination, or by execution. In the meantime the staffs of enemy Legations are being expelled from Iran. The Rumanian representatives left on Tuesday; the German, Hungarian, and Bulgarian Legations were to have left on Wednesday. The Italians are to go also and it is interesting to mote that they insisted on travelling in a separate convoy from the Germans, probably preferring their room to their company, indicating a sentiment with which there would doubtless be plenty of sympathy, even though it may prove émbarvassing to the Italian Government. Another interesting fact is that the German Minister has given his word that the convoy will not linger on the way out of Iran, which may or may not mean anything. 1f indeed he does dally, as he may be expected to, there will be means of hurrying him along.
The cleaning-up of the nest of intrigue which existed at Teheran will considerably strengthen the Russo-British position in Asia Minor, a fact which is admitted by the Gers themselves, and afford the best possible of protecting the oilfields in the and Iran upon which Hitler casts so s an eye, In addition to that the time should not be far distant when the railway running from the head of the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea should be usable as an alternative route for the despatch of war materials and other supplies to Russia. The distances may be big and the capacity of the railway none too great, but the supply of additional rolling stock should not prove an insuperable difficulty. Furthermore the general position of Great Britain and Russia now is that they are in a splendid position to extend assistance to Turkey, should the future development of Hitler's plans demand an attack upon that country.
But in Iran, as in Iraq and Syria, Great Britain has shown that her advent within their borders has meant the extension of freedom and not the shackling on of the bonds of slavery. The contrast between what Britain is doing and what the Nazis have done in Europe is a striking one. It has meant that the Syrians, lragians and the Iranians are being fed as they were not before. Germany starves the nations she has conquered, even those whose borders she has entered fraudulently. Not only starvation, but spoliation faces them in the most disgraceful forms of robbery it is possible for a so-called civilized nation to indulge in. It is believed that the temporary occupation of Iran will prove to be a prominent turning point in the history of that country. The removal of a tyranny, and the substitution therefor of a constitutional Government gives promise that the people will be freed once and for all from the exactions under which they suffered, and pave the way for inc sed prosperity and greater contentment.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.