American aid in improving Iranian facilities for transporting war material to the Soviet Union; establishment of an American airplane assembly base in Iran

[Following the British and Soviet action in Iran described in correspondence printed on pages 383 ff., that country became an important supply route to the Soviet Union both for British and American material. In response to an inquiry of September 4, 1941, as to whether American assistance was visualized in developing transportation through Iran, the British Government asked for railroad equipment. Later the need for additional railroad construction was reported. A telegram to the Embassy in the United Kingdom on October 8, 1941, stated that Brigadier General R. A. Wheeler, an outstanding military engineer officer, assisted by railroad experts, would head an American military mission to Iran (891.20/128a).

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As the Department of State played only a secondary role in the arrangements described above, which were the responsibility of other agencies and primarily operational rather than diplomatic, the Department’s correspondence on the subject is not included in Foreign Relations.]