Page 637 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947

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obtain a stranglehold on the Government, the arrests of Tudeh
leaders and agitators, and finally the liberation of Azerbai­
jan, had an accumulative effect, which resulted in the dis­
appearance of the Party from the local arena. The movement
has since gone underground, and secret meetings still continue
to be held in private houses, Since writing this report
a new Union has come into being which will be called the "Oil
Workers* Union". The chief signatory, Yusuf Iftikhari, was
prominent in the 1929 riots and he was at one time associated
with the Tudeh Party, but fell out with them on discovering
that their aims were political rather than Trade Unionism.
The other signatories are ex-Tudeh members who say they wish
to break away from that Party because they have discovered
that the Party funds have been embezzled etc. This new Party
will register itself and be of a non-political character, It
will also publish its accounts, The workers* immediate
reaction to this new organisation is one of suspicion because
they fear that it is either sponsored by the Government or
the Company.

VII. TRIBAL

With the exception of Shaikh Abdullah bin Khazaal * s
escapade in January 1946 (an account was included in the
Administration Report for 1945) the tribes in this Consular
area remained fairly quiet. Timely intervention by H.M.
Consul provented the massacre of evdry Iranian in Khorramshahr
on the 15th July when the Arabs had come in to avenge the
murders of their comrades in Abadan by the Tudeh mob. Had
it not been for this intervention, there is reason to suppose
that the neighbouring Arab tribes would have also descended
on Abadan where still larger massacres would have ensued.
A number of attempts were made during the year by the
Persian Officials in Khuzistan to regain the confidence of
the Arabs. Many leading Shaikhs were invited by the Governor
General to call on him at Ahwaz, and the assistance of Shaikh
Chassib bin Khazaal was enlisted in order to persuade them to
do so. No amount of persuasion, however, was enough^ to
overcome the Arabs* inherent distrust of Persian intentions
or their suspicion of Chassib, whom they knew had agreed to
assist the Persian Government in the hope that he would regain
the former Knzaal property — which they held and cultivated.
Messages were also sent by the Governor-General to those Arabs
who had gone over to Iraq, assuring them that they would be
allowed to return to their homes in Khuzistan without inter­
ference fropi the Persian Government, but these messages also
went unanswered.
When Tudeh hostility towards the Arabs became apparent,
H.M, Consul received frequent requests for guidance as to the
policy they should adopt and for British assistance in resis­
ting any attacks made on them by this Party. The policy of
strict non-intervention was, however, invariably adhered to.
After some deliberation, the Arabs decided to form a
tribal union to protect themselvew against external influences.
The Union was inaugurated in June under the name of the "Khu­
zistan farmer *s Union*1, but it achieved nothing and has since
sunk into oblivion.
1 1/

•V
r*
His Majesty*8 Consul
Khorramshahr.