740.0011 Stettinius Mission/147
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Murray)
| Participants: | Sir Maurice Peterson, K.C.M.G., Superintending Under Secretary, Eastern Department |
| Hon. R. M. A. Hankey, Eastern Department; | |
| Mr. Constantine Zinchenko, Counselor of the Soviet Embassy | |
| Mr. Wallace Murray, Director, Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, Department of State |
Sir Maurice Peterson said that the meeting was to profit by the presence in London of the Stettinius Mission in order to discuss Persia, especially economic affairs. The economic outlook there was fairly serious. He recalled, however, that under the Tehran Declaration the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R. and Great Britain were pledged to give Persia economic assistance to meet her special economic difficulties. The question arose what should be done to implement that Declaration, what machinery should be set up for the purpose and where any discussions should take place.
Mr. Wallace Murray said that he thought it might be a useful plan to authorize the three Allied Ambassadors in Tehran to form a committee to examine problems of an economic nature. He emphasized that Iran was unique in that the military forces of the three Powers met and cooperated together there. The whole effort which Great Britain and America were making by the provision of advisers and supplies and in other ways was directed to keeping the country going and to giving assistance to Persia to meet her difficulties. There would be obvious advantage in coordinating these efforts with those made by the U.S.S.R. They were as much in Russia’s interest as in Persia’s, since if Persia collapsed, it would vitally affect the supply route.
[Page 330]Mr. Wallace Murray said that the American advisers had a particularly tough job. Mutual consultation was in his view the ideal way to help solve the difficulties which Dr. Millspaugh had to face. It would be necessary for this purpose that instructions should be sent to the Allied representatives in Tehran.
Mr. Zinchenko enquired whether the situation in Persia had recently got worse.
Sir Maurice Peterson said that the Foreign Office had recently received a telegram from Tehran saying that the harvest was expected to be below average, though it might be better in the North than in the South, Dr. Millspaugh was sure that even if things were well organized, there would only just be sufficient foodstuffs in the country and had already asked for the shipment of a certain supply to be held in reserve. It was, however, difficult for us to ship supplies of cereals to Persia without affecting the supply route to Russia and our own requirements of shipping for war purposes and it was obvious that every effort ought to be made to enable the Persians to feed themselves so far as possible. That was why Mr. Wallace Murray was suggesting discussions for which Tehran seemed to be the best place. The three Ambassadors might make agreed recommendations to their Governments, who could then consider what further action could be taken.
Mr. Zinchenko asked whether any special arrangements were really necessary. He imagined that the Ambassadors were already in contact. He was not an expert on Persian affairs and it was difficult for him to discuss the question in detail, but he quite saw that Tehran was the best place for the discussions. He enquired whether the Ambassadors in Tehran all worked separately at present.
In the course of the subsequent discussion, it was explained to Mr. Zinchenko that there was not at present such a degree of cooperation as was desirable. It was perhaps natural that the Ambassadors should not discuss together and pool their information unless they were instructed to do so. Mr. Wallace Murray emphasized the great value of pooling information. The Russian Ambassador would have information from the North, the British Ambassador would have information from the South and the American Ambassador would naturally be in close contact with Dr. Millspaugh, and in that way a complete picture of the situation could be formed and the best measures devised for meeting Persia’s difficulties. The difficulties which the Persian Government had experienced in controlling their crops were briefly outlined to Mr. Zinchenko during the conversation and it was emphasized that the smaller any surplus might be, the greater would be the difficulties of combatting hoarding and illicit traffic in cereals.
Mr. Wallace Murray said in the course of the discussion that the American Government would particularly welcome coordinated efforts [Page 331] to deal with Persian problems. All three Allies were working for the same purpose. He hoped that the new Soviet Ambassador64 would get to know Dr. Millspaugh and would cooperate with him in solving common problems. He emphasized that the sole aim of the American advisers was to help the common Allied war effort. The vital common concern of the Allies to send supplies to Russia was the sole reason why American troops and so many American advisers were now in Persia. He explained that the American Government had no control over Dr. Millspaugh, who was paid by the Persian Government and only took their instructions. Unfortunately, Dr. Millspaugh had found it almost impossible to see the previous Soviet Ambassador and he greatly hoped that a period of cooperation could now be initiated.
Sir Maurice Peterson, summarizing the discussions, said that instructions to the British Ambassador in Tehran would be prepared, but that they would be held up until he heard from the Soviet Embassy whether the Soviet Government agreed to instruct their representative in Tehran to cooperate with his British and American colleagues in framing any recommendations which might be necessary on economic difficulties in Persia.
Mr. Zinchenko said that he felt sure that his Ambassador would telegraph to Moscow recommending action in the sense desired.
- The Soviet Chargé in Iran, Mikhail Alexeyevich Maximov, had been named Ambassador-designate.↩