Office of the Historian

891.01/23: Telegram

The Chargé in Persia (Amory) to the Secretary of State

Teheran, October 31, 1925—midnight.
[Received October 31—7:26 p.m.]

77. Medjlis passed following law this afternoon: 80 in favor, 5 against, 30 absent. “In the name of the welfare of the people the National Consultative Assembly declares the abolition of the Kajar Sovereignty and within the limits of the Constitution and other laws entrust Provisional Government to the person of Mr. Reza Khan Pahlavi. The determining of the form of the permanent government shall be made by a constituent assembly which shall for this purpose amend articles 36, 37, 38 and 40 of the supplement to the Constitutional Law.” See despatch No. 821, December 31, 1924.2

Minority contend that procedure illegal [because: (1) The] deputies swore allegiance to Sovereign; (2) Constitution provides that sovereignty vested in Kajar dynasty; (3) only deliberate genuine popular referendum can authorize constitutional change.

Majority contend that recent telegrams from provinces to Medjlis demanding abolition of Kajar dynasty constitute mandate and cite precedent of constitutional change in the electoral machinery by the Medjlis in 1909 as a result of telegrams from provincial groups. City illuminated this evening and quiet.

Amory
  1. Not printed.↩