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was Increasing! special representations were made by the Com­
pany to the Iranian authorities pointing out that the state
of insecurity was adversely affecting the Company's operations.
The military garrison was accordingly increased and over 100
thieves and ba^ characters were arrested and sentenced to
varying terms of detention. This brought about some measure
of improvement in the town, the Company's works and residential
areas; but, at the close of the year, the Company had further
cause for anxiety about security in their shipping area, where
gangs of thieves and smugglers continued to operate. Efforts
were being made in December to enlist the assistance of the
Iraqi authorities in apprehending these gangs, which took
refuge in flight to the Iraqi side of the Shatt-el-Arab when
disturbed in their operations.
The state of security in the Tribal areas remained at
a reasonably good level throughout the year.

VI. POLITICAL

The most important political developments in this area
during the year were centred round the activities of the Tudeh
Party, whose various political manoeuvres were designed, inter
alia, to gain administrative control over this and other parts
of the country in preparation for the general elections to the
Majlis.
Early in March a branch of the Tudeh Party held its
first public meeting in Khorramshahr. Its subsequent meetings
increased in number and intensity of feeling, which culminated
In the outbreak of the illegal general strike throughout the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company concessional area in July. Though
the ostensible reason for the strike was the demand of Friday
pay, it was evident that there was no industrial justification
for its outbreak whatsoever and that it had been engineered
exclusively for political ends, as all the points at issue
between the Anglojlranian Oil Company management and the labour­
ers were already under discussion before a Government Commission
in Tehran.

The Military Tribunal, which arrived from Tehran to
enquire into the causes of the strike, was composed of officials
with strong Tudeh sympathies and their main object was to
exonerate the Party completely and place the responsibility for
the disorders on the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The/CbcqM'**!***
took no action to punish the ring-leaders who had been arrested,
and actually ordered the release of some of them. When firm
representations were made in Tehran against this venemous anti-
British campaign, the/aonm&aeiui. turned their attention to the
Chief of Police and his Deputy, on whom they cast the responsi­
bility for the whole disorders. It was only during the last
quarter of the year that those persons responsible for the
riots were rounded up by degrees and removed.

The arrival off Abadan during the riots of two of H.M's
Ships and the concentration of British and Indian troops in
Basra brought immediate protests from the Persian Government in
Tehran and from the Press, but they actuated the former into
taking adequate measures to prevent further disorders.

The launching, and subsequent activities of the Prime
Minister*s Democrat Party of Iran caused no little anxiety
amongst the Tudeh Party members in these areas. In November
the Democrat Party opened a branch in Khorramshahr, and though
little enthusiasm was shown during its inauguration, its influ­
ence gradually expanded. The failure of the Tydeh Party to
obtain /-