NEW PERIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 May 1920, Page 5

NEW PERIL.

PERSIA IN DANCER. I I ADVANCE of the bolsheviks. BRITISH TROOPS INVOLVED. t By Telegraph,—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received May 21, 5.5 p.m. London, May 20. The Bolshevik capture of Enzeli is regarded as a moat serious move in view of the military helplessness of Persia, the new responsibilities of the British in the mid-East, and the risks as regards India.

It is assumed the Bolsheviks first aimed at the seizure of Denikin's volunteer fleet interned at Enzeli, but doubtless their ultimate purpose was the occupation of Teheran.

The situation is aggravated by the unreliability of Persia's Cossack divisions, of which five thousand are reported to be openly sympathetic with Bolshevism. It 19 feared the whole division will ioin the '<Reds."

The Daily Mail estimates the British troops driven out of Enzeli number between four and five hundred. A handful remain at Tabriz, whose fate, like those captured at Baku, is unknown. The whole situation involves a serious menace to our national prestige throughout the Middle East, and endangers vitally important oil interests in Persia.

In the House of Commons, Mr. Bonar Law, in reply to a question, stated the new Anglo-Persian agreement did not involve Britain's obligations towards Persia.—United Service.

SCENE OP THE ADVANCE.

BOLSHEVIKS' GRIP OF PERSIA,

For some time past Bolshevik disorders have prevailed in the Middle East, and their capture of Baku a few days ago marked the progress of Bolshevism an the Caspian Sea neighborhood. Baku, a town of 900,000 people, is one of the principal seaports on the Caspian Sea. It owes its importance to the petroleum wells in the neighborhood, of which there are over 3000, producing over 9,000,000 tons of oil per annum.

The cable published this morning shows that the Bolsheviks have now penetrated into Persia, and although British troops have been involved in the Middle East disturbances, the Bolsheviks may now be 'said to be operating in a British zone, for Persia provides a direct road to India—the highway through which the ex-Kai-ser dreamed of assailing British prestige |in the East. Enzeli, from which British troops have now been driven by the Bolsheviks, is still in the Caspian Sea region, but it is Persian territory, and it is joineciby a railway to Baku. Tabriz which is now threatened, is the most important commercial centre in North-west Persia. It lies 324 miles north-west of Teheran, which is the capital of Persii. Teheran is the only centra jn Persia which gives access <o other parts of the country I by railway.