Persian Uncertainties
Dr. Moussadek has been obliged to reimpose martial law in Tehran only a week after it had been lifted. The interval has seen daily disorders in the streets of the capital; these have not been as serious, perhaps, as the disorders which led to the downfall of Qavam as-Sultaneh's short-lived Cabinet or as those which involved the students last winter, but they are symptomatic of the general atmosphere of unrest and uncertainty which pervades Persia today. There is no evidence that the Tudeh Party intends its own demonstrations to be a stage towards a coup d'etat, although, of course, street rioting is one of the traditional Communist preliminaries for a seizure of power; more probably they were intended simply to make any settlement of Persia's internal or external problems more difficult. Meanwhile Dr. Moussadek is going ahead with his proposals for economic reforms. Modest though these reforms are, it is doubtful whether they will have much effect; they are certain to be resisted by the rich, at whose pockets they are aimed, and, although vast numbers of civil servants exist in Persia, they have never shown conspicuous bility in carrying out the wishes of the central Government. Dr. Moussadek's main hope for setting Persia on her feet again, therefore, still rests on some arrangement with the West which should restore the oil revenues. The British Govern- ment has sensibly taken the course of seeking more informa- tion about what is in Dr. Moussadek's mind before answering his latest note. If there is any reasonable ground for nego- tiation, the chance will presumably not be allowed to slip. It has been suggested that the American Government is even more anxious than the British to- give rapid support to the present Persian regime, but probably the differences between their points of view have been exaggerated. It cannot be supposed that Persia could be kept going with gifts, even if the West was prepared to make and Dr. Moussadek to accept them; nor is a restoration of the oil industry some- thing that can be settled in a few days.
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