On Friday week severe fighting took place at Tabriz. The
Times special correspondent says in Monday's paper that the result was a reverse for the Shah's troops. At first they carried all before them, and arrived under the loopholes of Sata Khan's inner defences. There, however, the Kurds became entangled in the narrow streets, and nearly fifty of them were killed by hand-bombs hurled by the Nationalist Caucasians. The survivors fell back in panic, communicating their terror to those behind, and soon all the positions held by the Government forces were abandoned. The casualties were heavy for Persian fighting. Sato. Khan confesses to sixty. The Royalist losses must have been heavier. The negotiations for a settlement conducted by the British Vice-Consul have broken down. Ain-ed-Dowleh, on behalf of the Shah, said he could not listen to any claim for Constitutional government Opposed to that based on the Koran. That is virtually to deny the possibility of conciliation. Meanwhile it appears that the reactionaries at Teheran have done their best to suppress the news of the intervention of Britain and Russia. They have failed, however, and the facts, which are widely known, have produced a new hopefulness among the Nationalists, who are already preparing for the elections.
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