17 JULY 1909, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

DURING the week there has been continuous fighting in and around Teheran between the Nationalists and the Bakhtiari under Sardar-Asad on the one side, and the Persian Cossacks and the loyal Bakhtiari on the other. Last Saturday the Shah's troops were hard pressed by the National ist army, and on Sunday they took the counter-offensive, and fought a successful action in which the Russian officers of the Persian Cossacks distinguished themselves. The effect, however, was quite temporary, for at six o'clock on Tuesday morning an advance guard of the Nationalists entered Teheran. They had slipped past the Persian Cossacks in the night, possibly owing to treachery, without firing another shot. At the gates of Teheran they overcame a short resistance by loyalist soldiers, and were received with rejoicings by the population. It is said that not only Persian civilians, but Armenians, have taken up arms in the Nationalist cause. When the news reached the Persian Cossacks they left their camp, which was some way from Teheran, and came into the city, occupying a different quarter from that held by the Nationalists. The special correspondent of the Times, from whom we have taken our facts, says that the Sipahdar, or leader of the Nationalists, has written to the British Lega- tion declaring that he is loyal to the Shah, and has only come to ensure the re-establishment of the Constitution.