The Persian Prime Minister, Amin-es-Sultan, was shot dead last Saturday
night at Teheran as be was entering his carriage after attending a sitting of the new Parliament. The ante- cedents of the victim lend a peculiar significance to the crime. He had held the post of Grand Vizier for a considerable period during the latter part of the reign of Nilsr-ed-Din, he was twice reappointed Prime Minister under Muzaffer-ed-Din, but fell from popular favour in 1904, was dismissed, and lived in exile until his recall by the present Shah last March. As the ablest supporter of the old regime, he inspired deep distrust in the extreme reformers, who interpreted his return to power as foreshadowing reactionary measures ; but a Persian corre- spondent of the Times, in a long and remarkable communica- tion to Tuesday's issue, asserts that not only had Amin-es- Sultan given the most explicit pledges of his loyalty to the Constitution, but that since his return to power he had done nothing to warrant suspicion of any reactionary designs. It is worthy of note that papers are said to have been found on the body of the murderer establishing the fact that the Prime Minister was killed by the orders of a revolutionary committee at Baku, who appear to have adopted the methods of the Russian revolutionaries. The Persian Parliament, it is reported, has condemned the crime as the act of enemies of the Persian people, and in view of the discredit which it casts on the reform movement at so critical a juncture, the truth of their verdict is not easily to be disputed.
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