Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, The British Commonwealth; The Near East and Africa, Volume III

740.0011 European War 1939/13883: Telegram

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

Washington, August 16, 1941—9 p.m.

64. The American Embassy in London has been advised by the Foreign Office that the Governments of Great Britain and the Soviet Union are about to make formal demands upon Iran for the expulsion of four fifths of the Germans in that country. Reports of this step are figuring prominently in the American press which is engaged in speculation as to possible further action which may be taken against Iran by Great Britain and the Soviet Union in case a satisfactory answer is not returned to the joint demands.

You should, of course, keep in close touch with your interested colleagues and with the competent Iranian authorities in order that you may keep the Department promptly and fully informed of developments in the present situation.

You should also seek an early occasion to discuss the situation with high Iranian officials, and, without associating yourself with the present representations of your British and Soviet colleagues, unless the Department later instructs you to do so, express the earnest hope of this Government that the Iranian Government is taking all necessary measures to avoid a spread into Iran of Nazi activities which could not fail to result disastrously for that country. The examples of Iraq and Syria⁷⁷ are, of course, pertinent in this connection and might be cited in support of the above observation.

Meanwhile, in order that the Department may be in a position to evaluate properly all phases of the situation, it is necessary that we should be provided as soon as possible with specific and reliable data regarding the character and extent of any Nazi activities in Iran. In reporting on these subjects please be precise in your statements, differentiating between fact and rumor, and, unless you consider it harmful, you should indicate the sources of information. As you probably realize the information thus far received from your Legation on this subject has been somewhat vague and contradictory and insufficient for the needs of the Department in the present situation.

Hull

77. For correspondence on the anti-British military coup in Iraq, see pp. 486 ff.; for correspondence on the British occupation of Syria, see pp. 725 ff.