A message from Petrograd dated December 17th announces that Hamadan,
which lies midway between Teheran and Baghdad,
has been occupied by Russian forces. Hamadan and Kum (seventy miles south of Teheran) have been the centres of the Turkish and German intriguers who have tried to raise Persia against Russia and Britain. The Russians are now occupying Kum. It was estimated that the Germans had at their disposal at Hamadan eight thousand irregulars and three thousand of the insurgent gendarmes. A Router message from Teheran gives an extraordinary account of the anxious hours which preceded the Shah's decision to remain at Teheran. The Germans and Turks believed that they had persuaded him to declare against the Allies and to move the Government to Ispahan. But, after all, the Shah hesitated, and during some critical hours two distinct groups of officials in the same room were beseeching him to do precisely contrary things. Function- aries urged him to throw in his lot with Germany and leave Teheran ; the Sipandar and Prince Firman Firma urged him to stay. The Germans waiting outside the town with the revolted gendarmerie all in review order to escort the Shah seem to have been astounded when he decided against them. During the next few days the disillusioned gendarmerie were returning sheepishly to Teheran. We may look perhaps for the Russian advance to have some effect upon the fortunes of the Baghdad• campaign.
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