The Doctor and the Mullah
Relations between the Mullah Kashani and Dr. Moussadek have been subject to frequent fluctuations. Both are tempera- mental men with a lively sense of their own importance; both command enthusiastic supporters in the Majlis and, more important, in the streets of the main towns. In the recent open dispute between the two Dr. Moussadek seems to have proved that when it comes to the point his support is stronger than That of the Mullah. In spite of Kashani's objections that the law was unconstitutional Dr. Moussadek obtained a majority for the proposal that he should be given emergency powers for another year. Now that the vote has been won interest naturally centres on the use that Dr. Moussadek pro- poses to make of his powers. Rumours of the imminence of an agreement to get Persia's oil flowing again have been stronger than ever in the past week, but even• the most favourable agreement, from a Persian point of view, would meet with strong opposition from the extremists. Kashani and nationalists like Mr. Makki, who has now abandoned his support of Dr. Moussadek, have all along made no secret of preferring to see their country's oil stay for ever underground rather than let any foreigner have any share or profit in its exploitation. • Their hostility is by no means the only problem facing Dr. Moussadek. He has soon to face the necessity of arranging a new agreement with Russia over fishing rights in the Caspian Sea. No doubt he will prove as doughty a defender of Persian interests in this case as he was in the dispute with Britain over oil. But the Russians have one weapon in their armoury which the British lacked—control of a well organised political party inside Persia. The efficiency and strength of the Tudeh Party has still to be put to a real test, and the possibility that it will make a tactical affiance with Kashani's fanatics is an obvious danger for Dr. Moussadek.
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