791.003/81: Telegram
The Ambassador in Germany (Schurman) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 13—11:35 a.m.]
46. My 43, March 10, 3 [1] p.m. The difficulty mentioned by the German Foreign Office is the conviction, held by the German Minister in Persia (and his judgment of Persian affairs is respected greatly here), that the Persian Government will not concede the main point of the British memorandum, namely, foreign judicial advisers with real authority. The German Minister believes that foreign assessors without jurisdiction to be the most that can be hoped for.
He reports, in a telegram just received here, that he is in close touch with the American and other western Legations at Teheran, but that Minister Philip apparently has received no instructions as yet to negotiate. Germany, France, Great Britain, and Belgium have already started negotiations. The German Minister is convinced that the attempt to obtain an extension beyond May 10, 1928, will not succeed; the only practicable course, in his view, is to sign the treaty under negotiation and to bring it into operation provisionally prior to that date. This policy apparently will be followed by Germany. The German Minister at Teheran regards the situation very pessimistically, believing that nothing can be done with the Persian Government while the British and Russians continue at loggerheads.
[Page 694]As to the treaty under negotiation, the German Foreign Office understands that Persia will not accept the most-favored-nation clause; hut the inverted form suggested by France is deemed to be almost as good, i. e., that the contracting power shall not be placed in a worse position than any other.
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