Persia at War
Nothing succeeds like success, and the success of the Allies has enabkd Persia to dLlare war on Germany and range herself openly on the side of the United Nations. Belligerent status will prove as valuable to Persia as to the Allies. Her position had been one of uncertainty in 1941, when the Germans had been intriguing in her country as in Syria and Iraq, and when the German threat to the Caucasus made it necessary for British and Russian forces to enter Persia and make sure of the communications between Soviet terri- tory and the Persian Gulf. This was a measure of self-defence on the part of the Allies justified by German activities within Persia, but to some Persians it seemed high-handed action, recalling bitter memories of the spheres of influence recognised under the older Anglo-Russian agreement ; and it synchronised with a food shortage which for some time grew worse. That, however, is being remedied with Allied help, and shrewder Persians are recognising how much they stand to gain in the future by the excellent system of com- munications which has now been constructed. Persia as one of the United Nations, herself at war with Germany, can the more easily accept the activities of the British, Russians and Americans who are working in her country. It is essential that she should understand that our intervention has been a war-time necessity only, and that her full sovereign rights will be respected after the war.
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