UNDER U.S. CONTROL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 307, 30 December 1942, Page 3

UNDER U.S. CONTROL

RAILWAY THROUGH IRAN It was reported recently in the U.S.A, that America was taking over the management of the Trans-Iranian Railroad from Teheran to the Gulf of Persia. The transfer in administration from the British to the Americans, which was understood to have been arranged in complete agreement with the Iranian Government, was expected to be completed by the end of the year. Mr. W. Averell Harriman, a specialist in railway organisation and an important figure in getting supplies to Russia, was interested in the Iranian development and American technicians and executives were expected to have full control of the approximately 400-mile stretch of railroad. The road constituted the only alternative to the Murmansk-Archangel sea route for sending bulky supplies to Russia. It was stated that British military occupation of strategic points in central and southern Iran would continue. Traffic on the Trans-Iranian Railroad showed an appreciable increase, but only a small part of the deliveries went that way. Early in the year a Japanese submarine was reported to have sunk an American ship or ships carrying rails and rolling stock to the Persian Gulf, and that was among the factors delaying the railroad development. Britain required all her available rolling stock at home. Since the United States would provide Iran’s requirements it was agreed that American experts should assume control of the road. North of Teheran the Russians remain largely in control