IRAN: Plenty of Tahmassebis?

The British-Iranian game of tit for tat was in full swing again. After the earnest, sober interlude of the Harriman mission, Teheran and London were once more trading threats and accusations, with each side hoping to break the other's will.

Premier Mohammed Mossadeq, his frail body supercharged with fanaticism, early last week went before the Iranian Senate and announced an ultimatum to London: he would give the British two weeks to reopen the suspended oil negotiations on Iran's old terms. Alternative: he would cancel the residence permits of 300 British technicians still hanging on at Abadan, and toss them out of the country. The Senators endorsed the Premier, 26 to o.

But next day, when Mossadeq showed up at the lower house prepared to demand the Deputies' support as well, there was only a small audience. Mossadeq waited for over two hours, but no quorum showed up. Growing chaos in the oilfields (where mobs were looting buildings and machinery) and the nation's headlong rush to bankruptcy had sobered more & more members of Parliament: they were showing their worry over Mossadeq's policies by staying away from the session.

The Premier left, breathing fire, and called for another session. To give emphasis to his invitation, his National Front bully boys poured into the streets. One of their leaders yelled: "We have Senators and Deputies who oppose Mossadeq. We have plenty of tahmassebis [assassins] who will settle their accounts." But at the next session, Mossadeq again failed to get a quorum, roared he would go ahead with his ultimatum anyway. To a U.S. correspondent he once more made clear his feelings: "Oil nationalization," he said, "is Iran's version of the 'Boston Tea Party.' "

Meanwhile the British cabinet made a sharp, stern reply to Mossadeq's ultimatum. London announced that negotiations, already "in suspense," were now "broken off," and would remain so as long as Mossadeq stayed in office. It was the first step Britain had taken to force the intractable Premier out of office.

The dispossessed Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. meanwhile announced in London that it would sue oil companies who buy Iranian oil from the Teheran government. London underlined its newly tough position by sending four more destroyers to join the ten warships already cruising in the Abadan area, again hinted that it would open fire, if necessary, to hold on to the British-built, $1 billion refinery.