211.91/17

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Iran (Hornibrook)

No. 184

Sir: I have received your despatch No. 659 of December 25, 1935, with which you enclosed a note from the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs35 suggesting that the proposed extradition treaty between the [Page 395] United States and Iran be based upon proposals for such treaties heretofore adopted by the International Conference for the Unification of Penal laws.

Reference is made to the Department’s instruction No. 182 of January 23, 1936, wherein it was indicated that the proposal in question would not be satisfactory from the standpoint of the United States on which to base an extradition treaty of this Government.

With its instruction No. 271 of March 20, 1934, the Department sent to your Legation a draft of a proposed treaty of extradition and stated that it would give consideration to any changes in the draft submitted which may be proposed by the Government to which you are accredited. You telegraphed on April 17, 1934, that you were advised by the Chief of the Treaty Division of the Persian Government that his Government was ready to negotiate a treaty of extradition but reserved the right to make changes in the draft submitted.

The Department has not since been informed as to any specific changes which the Government of Iran desired to make in the draft treaty which you submitted but is confronted at this late date with a proposal that the treaty be based on a very different draft and one which is entirely unacceptable to this Government.

In view of the foregoing it is considered that the Iranian Government should submit such changes as it desires to make in the draft which the Department submitted, and it is hoped that you will be able to bring about such action at an early date.36

Very truly yours,

For the Secretary of State:
R. Walton Moore
  1. Neither printed.
  2. The Iranian Government, however, submitted no changes to the draft as suggested by the Department. It was equally unresponsive to inquiries made by the Department in January 1937 and April 1938.