A footnote to my reference to the late Peter Avery. I have never quite known or understood what he did in Iran, but the Encyclopedia Iranica makes it pretty clear: that he went out to Iran in 1949 to work for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and was expelled by Mosadeqq in autumn 1951, at which point he taught English in Baghdad, returning in 1955 to work for Mowlem. I didn’t mean to impugn his memory by suggesting he might have had links to MI6, merely to suggest that he was a Persianist and they might well have benefitted from his knowledge and advice either in the early 1950s or later. I think he was pretty pro-Shah.
Apologies, I note I inadvertently pressed ‘reply’ not ‘forward’, I intended sending today’s Peter Avery email to a friend of mine, who knew him well. On the contrary, I am sure anybody who knew him would not feel you had in any way impugned his reputation, but would have thoroughly enjoyed the whiff of intrigue!
Anne Manson