Office of the Historian

77. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to President Johnson1

Washington, April 15, 1965.

Your meeting with our new Ambassador to Iran2 seems to me most important, because it is essential he get a clear sense of what we really want in Iran. You in 1962 and then JFK in 1963 preached reform to the Shah. Now he takes it as his own idea, and wowed his UK hosts recently by a 45-minute peroration on the subject.

But the Shah’s palaver is better than his performance. With rapidly rising oil revenues ($750 million last year), he’s tempted to spend far too much on fancy military hardware and not enough on meeting his own people’s rising expectations. He’s got a good land reform program but lags badly on the credit facilities and marketing arrangements to help the peasants out. In a word, he doesn’t pay enough attention to his own economy, but loves (now that we’ve stopped the Soviets for him) to worry about the piddling Arab threat.

Given Iran’s wealth we’ve practically disengaged from major aid programs, but are still getting his military purchases through some skillful MAP credit deals. So without aid leverage, keeping the Shah steered right will depend largely on Armin Meyer. I hope you’ll tell him:

1.
When you visited Iran in 1962 you tried to impress on the Shah that good economics is good politics, and that modernizing their countries was the way for monarchs to keep their thrones. You still feel the same way.
2.
Meyer should impress on the Shah that you watch closely the results of his reform program, which we regard as an impressive achievement.
3.
Just as we are trying to expand output and purchasing power to provide the resources for all we want to do, so the same principle might hold good for Iran.
4.
Meyer should carry your warm best wishes to the Shah and express your pleasure he escaped last week’s assassination attempt (we sent a private message in your name3 and got a very grateful reply).
5.
Meyer should use all his arts of persuasion to influence the Shah in the right direction. If you can help, just let you know.

R.W. Komer
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Iran, Vol. I, Memos & Miscellaneous, 1/64–12/65. Secret.↩
  2. Armin H. Meyer was appointed Ambassador to Iran on March 18; he presented his credentials on April 27. The President met with Ambassadors Meyer and Holmes from 12:15 p.m. to 12:17 p.m. on April 15. No record of their discussion has been found.↩
  3. A copy of the President’s April 11 message to the Shah is in the Johnson Library, National Security File, Special Head of State Correspondence, Iran, Shah Correspondence, Vol. I.↩