IRAN: Blowup?

The Iranian fuse was sputtering nearer & nearer to the powder keg.

Early last week, Anglo-Iranian's negotiators had walked into the Teheran meeting room with a highly reasonable offer: the British would accept, almost without qualification, the principle of nationalizing Anglo-Iranian. They suggested this method of procedure: Britain would give up all its Iranian assets (worth about $1 billion) to an Iranian-owned Persian National Oil Co. In turn, the new company would contract with an operating concern to manage production. The operating concern would be directed by a joint British-Iranian board. Final item: Britain would pay Iran $28 million immediately, pay an additional $8,400,000 monthly until the new agreement was concluded.

Within minutes after the British made the offer, the Iranian delegation left the meeting room, phoned frail, ailing Premier Mohammed Mossadeq. Thirty minutes later, Britain's chief negotiator, Basil Jackson, looking pale and strained, walked out of the conference room and said to waiting newsmen: "Well, talks are broken off, gentlemen. They refused to accept our suggestions under any circumstances."

Twenty-eight hours later, Britain's saddened negotiating team boarded a chartered plane and took off for London. Straight from a Scotch & soda going-away party for the negotiators, British Ambassador Sir Francis Shepherd and Minister George Middleton with their wives—all in evening dress—were on hand to wave goodbye.

Mossadeq's Victory. U.S. Ambassador Henry Grady, who had tried his somewhat naive best to mediate, retired in wounded pride to await another chance. No one believed it would come. Bands of Mossadeq's burliest. National Frontists charged into Anglo-Iranian's Teheran offices, ripped down the company signs, shouted: "We nationalize or we die."

After the carefully organized spree, Mossadeq summoned the Majlis to endorse his policy of all-out nationalization —no strings. Mossadeq uttered a threat: unless a quorum assembled and voted him confidence, he would not be responsible for order. One by one the intimidated parliamentarians filed past the Speaker's desk to drop cards into one of two copper pots. All the 91 cards dropped were white, meaning yes; no one dropped a blue card meaning no. One brave member abstained.

Mossadeq, an honest man at the head of a largely incompetent and corrupt government, obviously could not run the oilfields, wanted British technicians to stay on and do the job for him. Having expropriated the British, the Iranians now childishly blamed the British for not assisting at their own expropriation. Said professorial little Allahyar Saleh, chairman of the parliamentary Nationalization Board: "We hope the foreign employees will not leave their jobs. If they do so, Iran will disclaim responsibility for the disruption of the flow of oil to the West."

Cracked one U.S. newsman: "I now have my lead: 'Persia expects every Englishman to do his duty.' "

The West's Impotence. The West faced a real dilemma. If it did not polish the shoe that had just kicked it, the West might lose one of its major oil sources and Iran might turn to the Russians. The U.S. State Department counseled London that it had better try to stay on the scene and produce as much oil as possible.