The British formed the South Persia Rifles in response to German influence in southern Iran in 1915 and early 1916.

The South Persia Rifles was a measure to use locally raised troops rather than British or Indian units, so that the latter could be sent to the main campaign against the Ottomans in Iraq.

With the assent of the Shah’s government, the British were allowed to form a military force of up to 11,000 men to quell the resistive tribes and maintain order.

Sykes and his men spread out to cities in southern Iran such as Yazd, Esfahan and Shiraz, as well as Bandar-Abbas.

The Rifles went after the tribes in their strongholds as well as their crops and livestock, crippling them logistically so they could not continue to raid British supply lines and garrisons.

[5] By June 1917, the government that had agreed to the establishment of the Rifles fell, and the new prime minister and cabinet would not recognize them.

[6] The British even approached the United States with a proposal to take the Rifles over, but the US declined due to a lack of officers who could speak the language or were knowledgeable about Iran.

In 1918 word of the worsening situation on the Western Front in France affected the morale of the Iranians in the Rifles and many deserted.