291. Supplementary Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Johnson1
SUBJECT
- Your Conversation with the Shah of Iran, June 12, 1968 at 12:30 P.M.
Discussion:
We do not propose that you raise it, but the Shah may raise with you the subject of our installations at Peshawar and the Pakistani request that we leave there by July 1969. Implied in any such question will be whether we are thinking of increasing our facilities in Iran as a result of the loss of Peshawar.
In accordance with a decision you made in the spring of 1966, we have been taking steps, on a contingency basis, to make possible the transfer of some of the Peshawar operations to Iran. We have not yet decided, however, when any such transfers should be made or the extent to which it would be politically feasible to make such transfers, in the light of our relations with Iran and our desire to retain our existing facilities in Iran.
Recommended Talking Points:
You might tell the Shah, if he raises the matter, that we are still studying the situation caused by Pakistan’s request that we leave Peshawar and have not yet reached any firm conclusion. You might assure him that if it turns out that we would desire to increase our operations in Iran, we would of course discuss the matter with him beforehand, any such increases [Page 522] would be minimal and inconspicuous, and we would hope that he would be able to accommodate them, as before, in the interest of the security of the Free World. ([less than 1 line of source text not declassified] will be speaking to the Shah along these lines on June 12 and before you see the Shah.)
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Iran, Visit of Shah of Iran, 6/11–12/68. Top Secret; Nodis.↩