Omens in Persia
The general 'strike which paralysed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Corn-. pany's fields in the Khuzistan province of Persia on Sunday was so sudden that explanations have mostly begun with the event and worked backwards. Rather more enlightenment • comes from putting events in chronological order. During the war vast efforts were made to expand the production of the Anglo-Iranian oilfields, with a doubling of staff and all the usual war-time difficulties of accommodation and supply which provide a seed-bed for labour troubles. In March this year British troops were withdrawn from Persia in accordance with previous agreements, and the responsi- bility for the maintenance of order in an area full of British capital
equipment passed to the Persian Government. This task was under- taken with determination, but without many troops, by Mispah Fatemi at the head of the Khuzistan authorities. In the meantime the Teheran Government was passing- through the prolonged crisis induced by Russian reluctance to withdraw from North Persia and the 'subsequent claim to local autonomy by Azerbaijan. In con- ducting this struggle, much of which consisted of resistance :o Russian pressure, the Prime Minister, Quwam-es-Sultani, had to meet severe criticism from the Tudeh, Persia's party of the extreme Left. When it is added that the Tudeh party has also been very active in the Abadan area and that Mispah Fatemi has until recently received support from Teheran in dealing with these activities, the elements of an explanation of the events of last week- end begin to appear. What produced the explosion was probably dislike of the Teheran Government's new labour legislation, which attempts to limit the right to strike—though why Sunday's disorders should have taken the form of anti-Arab riots is less easy to explain, unless the explanation is that when the main desire is to make trouble one victim is as .good as another. In any case, the proved possibility of a sudden and thoroughly organised strike by 50,000 men at a vital source of British oil is something which cannot be ignored by the British Government, whatever the explanation may be.
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