891.00/2053a: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
A–1271. The following memorandum for the Secretary, dated at Quebec, August 25, 1943, was handed to us at the Quebec Conference by Sir Ronald Campbell:
[Here follows verbatim text of the memorandum entitled “Situation in Persia,” printed on page 381.]
Please send the Foreign Office a memorandum in reply reading in substance as follows:
The Department is, of course, fully aware of the importance of the security problem in Iran. On August 20 the American Minister at Tehran was instructed to support British action leading to the arrest of persons believed to be engaged in pro-Axis activities by explaining to the Iranians, if approached by them on the subject, the overriding military necessity of restraining persons who have obstructed or are potentially harmful to the war effort. This course of action had been suggested by Mr. Dreyfus.
[Page 385]It is to be hoped that the recent Iranian declaration of war9 will strengthen, at least to some extent, the hand of the Iranian Government in dealing with security matters.
The Department has also discussed security questions with the War Department, which, we understand, is engaged in conversations with the British military authorities on the subject.
We shall be glad to bear in mind the Foreign Office’s assurance that it will do its best to help if we have any suggestions for improving the Persian administration in the light of experience gained by the American adviser.
The Department has under active consideration the Foreign Office’s suggestion that the situation might be eased if reasonable quantities of consumer goods could be imported into Iran. For a variety of reasons, it would be very difficult to provide shipping space for consumer goods for Iran at the expense of military supplies for Russia. In any case, this problem appears to lie primarily within the sphere of the Middle East Supply Center, and we have telegraphed to Cairo for an expression of their views.10