891.711/18
The Acting Postmaster General (Purdum) to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: Reference is made to the recent telephone discussion between officials of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs of [Page 382] your Department and of the Division of International Postal Service of this Department, with further respect to the action of the Iranian Postal Authorities in not delivering second-class publications from the United States due to the appearance in some of said publications of matter deemed by the Iranian Government to be of an objectionable nature.
It is desired to point out that while, as stated in the letter of this Department on the subject dated July 2, 1936, IHW–F–163/19–8111, the Postal Administration of Iran has a right to consider the publications in question as prohibited articles and to treat the same in accordance with its domestic regulations, it is contrary to the usual practice in the International Postal Union service for one Postal Union country to prohibit delivery of all publications from another Postal Union country because some of the publications sent from such other country contain matter objectionable to the country of destination.
In the opinion of this Department, the action of the Iranian Administration was not justified. In regular course, that Administration should have notified this Department as to the publications that had been found to contain objectionable matter in order that dispatch of such publications to Iran could have been withheld and the publishers so notified.
Very truly yours,