Office of the Historian

224. Intelligence Memorandum1

Washington, August 18, 1967.

THE SHAH OF IRAN AND HIS POLICIES IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE ARAB–ISRAELI WAR

(Addendum to Intelligence Memorandum 1117/67, 5 June 67)2

Summary

The Shah of Iran will arrive in Washington on 22 August for a brief official visit. His visit was originally scheduled for 12 June but was postponed when the Arab-Israeli war broke out. Although Iran publicly voiced support for the Arab cause, Iran’s ties with Israel were not affected and most Iranian officials were privately delighted by Nasir’s humiliating defeat.

The Shah has not modified his conviction that the Egyptian president poses the most serious long-range threat to Iranian security, and he will continue to press for favorable prices and terms on US military equipment to bolster his defenses in the Persian Gulf. Staunch Soviet support for Egypt and other radical Arab states appears to have resulted in a note of caution in Soviet-Iranian relations, and rapprochement is likely to proceed at a reduced pace.

[Here follows the body of the paper.]

  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Iran, Visit of the Shah of Iran, 8/22–24/67. Secret; No Foreign Dissem. Prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of Economic Research, the Office of National Estimates, and the Clandestine Services, all of the CIA.↩
  2. Document 206.↩