PERSIA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 489, 23 April 1909, Page 5

PERSIA.

■' .DESPERATE IN' TABRIZ v\:iVt : r'- / :.;., 'i i;;' : : :. : , ; lllY .TUMItArit—PRESS ASSOCIATIOH-COPTnIOUT.) '■ '. Desperate fighting, has taken place in the suburbs of Tabriz, .the Nationalist stronghold .which' is ;boing 'besieged by the.; Shah's troops. ' The"Nationalists, have already lost .'6o;kiM:,';' \,l: ' : V : y\". : .'.: '■■ DESPERATE DEFENDERS STRONGLY, ■ ; ; ;i ; k ,•:ENTRENCHED,; '; Advices from .Tabriz, in March describe the state of >siege at that timo as follows:—Tabriz has now been effective}} - ' blockaded for over 'a • fortnight.; Food;and fuel are scarce and costly in the town, local: discontent runs high, and a, mitigation of the conditions seems impossible in the circumstances,owing to snow, by:which the country iis:deeply covered.. Movement is .possible; only along. tho i roads, and these are. all held by the Royalist forces.'. <■ The successful sorties by; the Nationalists have not had a deoisivo effect/ for, owing to their, limited numbers and theii* lack' ; .of nlbunted men, \ thoy are ,uriable to turn', the-defeat of. their opponents into, a: rout; :, Wherl:,worsted, the loyalists simply" retire and' take up a more distant position, which for the purpose of blockade is equally. effective. ■ The': Royalist troops, on the other hand; cannot close the town without encountering determined resistance from bodies of desperate men. securely entrenched. Artillery cannot be effectively employed, and the, battery of with the, Royalists confers little advantagef<sr\tho present..,"'.•"