891.248/123
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Cecil T. White of the Division of Commercial Policy and Agreements
Mr. Davallou38 telephoned to inquire further as to when the Legation could expect a reply to its draft proposal of September 3, 1940. Mr. Davallou indicated that Tehran is anxious to receive our reply as soon as possible.
Mr. Davallou was informed that the Department is trying to expedite its reply and that we expect it will be ready soon. In the course of the conversation his attention was called to the pressure of defense work on the personnel of certain agencies in the trade-agreements organization. I repeated the substance of telegram no. 33, April 26, 1941, from Tehran,39 which reported that the Iranian request list has been supplied by the Foreign Office and is being forwarded to the Department by air mail. I assured Mr. Davallou that its receipt would be very helpful and pointed out that announcement of intention to negotiate might be expedited thereby.
Mr. Davallou wished to know whether we would delay our reply until after we received the request list. In reply, I indicated the belief that we would not.
A short while after the conclusion of the conversation, Mr. Davallou called back to say that the Minister wished to express his appreciation of our efforts in this regard.
The report of the Country Committee on Iran was delayed in the first instance in order to obtain needed information from Tehran. That information has been received, but recently the representatives on the Country Committee from the Department of Commerce and the Tariff Commission have been prevented from completing their studies, in part, because of the reorganization in the Department of Commerce, and, in part, because of assignment to defense work.
However, the Chairman of the Committee has been informed that preliminary work probably will be completed by about May 7 and it is expected that a report can be made to the Trade Agreements Committee in the near future.