ROAD INFORMATION SOUTHEASTERN IRAN (KAZERUN - SHIRAZ BEHBEHAN AREA)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500350009-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 7, 2000
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: February 9, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

CONFIDENTIAL
Approved For Release 2000/09/14: CIA-RDP80-00809AO00500350009-1
CENTRAL. INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT 25X1A
SUBJECT Road Information Southeastern Iran (Kazerun-Shiraz-
Behbehan area)
25X1A
PLACE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
25X1X
1. In I made a trip by Jeep over a road which went up north of
Kazerun, through Fehlian, Basht, and. into the oil producing area around Du
Gunbadan through the "back door." I understand that people who travel over
this road are often surprised to find that it comes out right in the oil
producing area. As my party progressed over the road we were told that we
were the first white people who had ever traveled over it.
2. We started on the road a little west of Kazerun and went north through the
Shapur canyon. The road ras very narrow -- wide enough for one car only --
and it was very difficult, especially in the rain (it had rained once before
we start...` the trip). Coming out on the plain from the canyon the road. goes
north. h.:tween Shapur and Fehlian it is not too bad. It goes up and down
many times, but it is not too steep. It keeps above the valley floor -- going
right along the edge of Wit. North of Noorabad `phoneti] the road crosses tiie
Shaspeh p-honeti7 River. As we approached the river we saw a beautiful stone
bridge under construction, which crosses the Shaspeh. In about
four spans of the bridge were completed and there was still one to be built
before the bridge could be used. The tribespeople in that area claimed that
the bridge was being constructed with their help and money, and if this was
actually the case, it will probably be some time before the bridge is completed.
This as the only river crossi._g we had on the road, and the 'bridge looked as
If it would be strong enough to sup, or. t heavy trucks when it is completed. Since
the bridge was not finished it was necessary for us to ford the river. During
dry weather it can be forded with little difficulty, but it would be extremely
dangerous to attempt it during the rainy season. North of the river the road
goes through rice fields, and is extremely poor. During the dry season it is
possible to get through it with four-wheel drive, however. It is very difficult
to make out the road through the rice fields as there are no wheel marks to
follow. Our party got bogged down on the road between Fehlian and Basht in the
Boirahamedi j5honetic7 tribal area, and had to be pulled out of the mud. Just
before Basht the road is extremely poor. It is muddle and vehicles sink in very
easily. The mud is thick, gummy, cle.yey stuff. There is actually little l'ai.n
U.S. Officials Only
CONFIDENTIAL
DISTI R.,TON a? STATE
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'This ru 1 e"i s e e t.9 or
Agencies indicated above. It is not to be transmitted overseas without the concurrence of the
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 25X1A
App rplv~ed Four Re~letasef.2At00/09n14n CIA-RDP 0100809A 000500350009-the road muddy.
Beyond. Baeht the road improves. It goes through some .hills, but the surface,
which is made up of gravel with broken stone, is much better. This part of the
road may have been a UK developmental road connected. with the oil refinery in
that area. About 10 miles east of Duz Gunbadan the road comes out on the plain
and goes on until it hits the highway running from Du Gunbadan down to Ganaweh
on the Persian Gulf. The plain through which the road gees is used as a winter
area for some of the ,ribe.epeople and there are camels and tents all over it.
3. Du Gunbadan is a town where there are many oil wells. There is a road which runs
west and a little north of Du Gunbadan to Behbehan, and although I did not
travel the road I was told that it was good. I traveled, south of Du Gunbadan
to Ganaweh. The stretch of road between Du Gunbadan and Coach Saran, where there
is an oil refiner , had. a black-top surface. The road waa built by the UK, and
25X1X in It was in pretty good condition. There were a few holes which
had not been touched, but the road, all the way to Ganaweli, is al.1-weather, and
it is solid enough to take heavy trucks at any time of the year, From Du unbadan
to Gach Saran there are pipelines whieb parallel the road. The pipelines are
on the surface. There are also numerous oil tanks and oil wells along this
stretch of road.
4. Between Du Gunbadan and Gach Saran there is a town called Ab Shereen 15honeti27
which was bult by the UK for employees of the oil company. The town is on the
east side of the road and is situated on the side of a hill. It is a good modern
town with western (UK) style houses. The houses are very close together and
they have running water, which is quite unusual for that country. Recreational
facilities are provided for the people who live in the town, and there are gardens,
flowers etc, which make the town more pleasant, There are probably 15 hundred to
two thousand people living in Ab Shereen, and in they were still 25X1X
drawing their pay from the Iranian government, and were doing nothing.
5. In addition to the good roads bet',teen Behbehan and Gach Saran there is telephone
communication between Gach Saran and Behbehan, as well as between Gech Saran and
Du Gunbadan. In Gach Saran there is an Iranian Army poet made up of about 50 men
with a lieutenant in charge. It is supposedly their job to watch the oil refinery.
6. South of Gach Saran the surface is a fine gravel (which is not loose,\jj? he road
is wide enough for two-way traffic. As of there was very little
traffic, and what there was was male up of buses and trucks bringing in supplies.
The road is well graded. It is not too steep, but It is very winding. When the
road comes out of the hills it proceeds along the coastal plain for quite a
distance before reaching Ganaweh. This stretch of road on the coastal plain was
the only I found in all of Iran where it was possible to go 60 mph.
7. There are three possible routes that I know of to get from Ganaweh to Borazjan.
One of thee, which is the farthest inland, is at the foot of the hills and I
know little about it. The second, or middle, route is passable for jeeps. The
third route goes over the mud flats and can be traveled in the dry season only.
It would be risky to go over any of these roads during the rainy season, or for
about one month after the zains have stopped, but I believe it would be impossible
to get over the mud flats at any time other than the dry season. All three roads
are unpleasant at any time of the year because: in the dry season, when road
conditions are better, the heat is almost unbearable. (The rainy season is roughly
from November to 1 A_cril). In I traveled over the middle route and
it took five or six hours to get from Ganaweh. to Borazjan. This was during the
"coo!" season, and the temperature was over 90?F. I understand that it is possible
to get from Ganaweb to Borazjan in one hour over the mud flats in dry weather. On
the route we toc~. it was necessary to ford the :dilleh River between Ktilal. and
Darudgah, a few miles before reaching Borazjan. There is no bridge and the ford
is not marked. The river is about 100 yards wide at the point where it can be
forded and the ford is two or three feet deep. The ford. is not straight. We saw
one car, which started straight across the river at the point where the ford was
believed to be, drop off. When we went across one of our jeeps got stuck and had
to be pulled out.,
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g dry possible to get from Ganaweh to
Bushire along the mud. flats in about one hour. Both Bushire and Borazjan are
on the main road to Tehran which was orzg.rially built by the UK, and which is
quite good. There are many chuck holes i.,. the road, and we saw road crews
every few miles breaking up stones along the road and shoveling some of them
into the holes. The condition of the road varies. In some places ii: is good
and in some it is bad. It is very dusty in dry weather, but it is drained and
is high enough to be passable in wet weather. Th,- road is used by heavy trucks
all year around. Most of the road is wide enough for two-way traffic, although
passing trucks in some of the passes is sc_-.what hazardous. Some places in the
mountains are not wide enough- 'or a car ?i.::d a truck to pass.
9. Between Shiraz and. Persepolis, just north of Zargan, a portion of the road which
was formerly a short-cut, motorable only in dry weathes?, has been raised five
or six feet so that. it can be traveled in any weather, and it cuts off about five
miles. This portion of the road goes across a hu e flat plain. The lifting of
the road was not entirely finished in but it was nearing completion.
At the north end of this stretch, right at the Kur River, there is a narrow stone
bridge -- about as wide as one truck. If this bridge were to be knocked out it
would really tie up the road. The stretch of road between Qum and Tehran is
surfaced with hl ok-t.oA : The road is used by oil trucks and there is lots of
heavy bus travel over it. When I went over this part of the road there were many
holes in the road and nothing was being done about them.
10. Between Shiraz and Tehran it is possible to ge'. gasoline in Deh Bid, Abadeh,
Shahriza, Isfahan and Qum (and I believe there were two stations between Isfahan
and Qum but I cannot recall the names).;. It would probably be possible to get
auto repairs in Isfahan, Qum and possibly in Shahriza. On major roads the
government arranges- to have gasoline available at specified places, however, on
some of the more remote roads it is difficult to get any unless one has contacts
along the way who can supply it. Drivers over these roads usually carry extra
gasoline with them. Iranian roads would be particularly hard on US cars because
even on the main roads sharp stones often fly up and cut holes in the gasoline
tanks.
11. Another road I traveled over in Iran went from Shiraz to Sarvietan. This is a
poor road, but it is now passable in all weather. It is pretty much level all
the way, although it does go over a relatively low pass called "robbers' pass".
It is traveled frequently by large, heavy trucks. The road is wide enough for
two cars. It is "washboardy" all the way. The construction is dirt shovelled
up with broken stone on top. The road sxirts Sarvistan to the north, and east
of there there is a rather steep pass, but any vehicle could make it. The road
goes on to Fasa, a town of about 10 thousand people, which is located in date
country. A sugar refinery and cement plant are being built there with US funds.
The road from Pasa to Jahrum is not as good as the one .from Shiraz to Fasa.
12. South of Shiraz there is a road which goes to Firuzabad, which is now the winter
headquarters and tribal r.-enter for the whole d ,F.shgai nation. The road from Shiraz
gets progressively' worse as it goes south, but with care I believe it would be
possible to get over it at any time of the year. There are some bad passes and
several small stone bridges on this road. The first pass north of Zanjiran is
not too bad, but from there it goes into a canyon, and the road is cut right out
of the side of the canyon. There is a drop of about 100 feet from the side of
the road, and the road slants out. It is dangerous for large trucks, especially
in wet weather. This is a one-way road. Anyone i41o approaches Firuzabad without
notifying someone there ahead of time to expect him can expect to be held up and
robbed in one of the passes along the road, as this invariably happens. The
population of Firuzabad varies at different times of the year. In the summer it
is about four thousand and in the winter it gets up to around 15 thousand, The
aashgai tribcspeople who inhabit that area would like to build a road. on to the
Persian Gulf.
C:ONFIDFNTIA.L?/U5 ONLY.
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 13. The Pipirbespeopo e' enle&Se M01020 gragIJ% A0 g-Q19tkowNewo .~1networke of
"roads" by which it is possible to get mcst of the way across to the Gulf. In
a hard. rain these tribal roads are very difficult to get cver, as they are actually
no better than tracks- but there is, a route which goes by way of Mlshan 5honeti /
and Bikarz 5honeti7, all but about 15 miles of which can, be truvcled by vahicle.
It would be necessary to go about 15 miles on horseback -- from roughly 10 miles
east of Bikarz to about eight miles west of the road below Fehlian -- but the rest
25X1X of the road could be traveled by yr we. This route would hit a good road
25X1X resumably the road between Gach S&ran and Ganaweh which woT d goion too the o the Gulf.
are eager to have help in improving these roads.
25X1X
Jhe map which was used by - in describing most of the roads in the above
report was a mosaic made up of AM sheets for Iraq and Iran (1:253,440) No. E-39
1, H-39 K, H-39 L, H-39 0 & U, H-39 P, H-39 Q, H-39 R, H-39 V & G-39 D, H-39 W,
and H-39 X. (Sheet H-39 J, on which the first road described is shown, was not
available). Source put the following marks on the map:
O to show the approximate location of Ab Shereen described in paragraph 4.
O to emphasize location of furd across the Hilleh River described in
paragraph 7.
Q to indicate actual location of airport near Shiraz.
~~ to empb.azise location of bridge across the Kur Rivas?, described in
paragraph 9
and a line showing a slightly different rout.ng c' the road near
Persepolis. - says the road actually goes right beside the 40 25X1X
foot -all of the city.
The map marked by _ is available on loan from CIA,'.ibraryj
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754.82 5K
735.533 5K
754.35 5K
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