811.79661/68: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Standley)
387. Your 446, May 14, 1 p.m. Department would appreciate learning whether in your opinion Molotov in intimating “that it might be advisable to come to some definite agreement in respect to air services, accommodations, couriers, et cetera, between the United States and the Soviet Union” was referring to an agreement relating to airlines from the Soviet Union to the United States through Iran and Africa or whether he had in mind agreements relating to other possible air routes. Did you understand that Molotov had in mind an agreement covering the period of the war or one which might also extend into post-war?
The Department is somewhat at a loss to understand Molotov’s view that there does not exist a need for a regular Moscow-Tehran air service, particularly since that is the one sector of the route between the United States and Russia on which a bottleneck exists. A check of recent pouch despatches to Russia indicates that an average of 40 days is required for mail to reach Russia from the United States and that over half of this time is required to transit the Tehran-Moscow sector. Official mail from Russia to the United States has a better record but still half of the transit time is consumed on the Russia–Tehran sector. You might stress these facts when next you talk to Molotov.