890G.00/545
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Gordon P. Merriam of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs
| Participants: | Mr. Nevile Butler, Counselor of the British Embassy |
| Mr. Murray19 |
Mr. Murray referred to the British Embassy’s aide-mémoire of April 5, 1941, in which the hope was expressed that this Government would withhold recognition from the new Gailani Government in Iraq and so instruct its representative in Baghdad. Mr. Murray stated that we had just received a telegram from our Minister in Baghdad,20 apparently based upon a somewhat different view of the situation from that which had prompted the Embassy’s aide-mémoire, to the effect that in the opinion of the British Ambassador there, a formal decision by the British Government either to recognize or not to recognize the Gailani regime was open to serious objections. It therefore seemed undesirable for us to take a step which in the opinion of Sir Kinahan Cornwallis it would be unwise for his own Government to take at this time.
Mr. Butler agreed.