POLITICS IN PERSIA

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5287, 27 December 1946, Page 4

POLITICS IN PERSIA

| ^ I pRESENT-DAY Persia has j been- pictured as a country j where "the militant orthodoxies i of Marxism and Islam" are con- | tending for a hold on the I masses. The Tudeh Party was ; originally a liberal, progressive ; movement with only a sprinkling I of Communists. But a profound ! | change in its character was , ] wrought during the Soviet war- ! I time occupation of the northern ! j provinces. Its activities have j | now become undisguisedly. Rus- ' sian in inspiration, and the sep- i | aratist movement in Azerbaijan 'j ! is one example of . its work. It J ! was the Tudeh Party which \ fomented the strikes at the ; Abaden refineries a few months j ago. Tudeh influences have, in ; fact, been apparent in most of i the troubles that have afflicted j Persia in recent months. Persia is fertile soil for the ] spread of Tudeh doctrine". The | lack of reformist zeal in the 1 Teheran Government has fixed | the attention of the Azerbai- j janis upon the neighbouring J Soviet republics in the north. i The stagnation and general dis- j order in Persia,- the corruption of Persian political life, and the I weakness and selfishness of the I \ Persian ruling classes have led ; peasants to regard the Soviet | way of life as eminently desir- | able. The spread of the Tudeh j Party throughout Persia has : afforded the Soviet a valuable ; means of extending an influence j that was firmly implanted dur- ' | ing the occupation period. ; Quavam - es - Sultaneb's new ; Persian Democrat Party has 1 been impelled by Tudeh com- j petition- to adopt a broad pro- : gramme of refopm. But it is • evident that unless the pro- ! gramme can be converted into i definite action the new political 1 influences will steadily' gain ■ ground. Persian independence may be jeopardised. Quavam's difficulties are immense. The 1 steps he has t'aken in Azerbaijan may be only the first measures ; towards regaining control of a difflcult situation.