891.51A/1120
The Chargé in Iran (Ford) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 4.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegrams number 246 dated April 10 and number 249 dated April 11, 194489 concerning the Majlis debate on the program submitted by the New Prime Minister, Mr. Saed, and the violent attacks it produced on the American Financial Mission. Reference is also made to the Legation’s despatch number 920 dated April 18, 1944 covering the recent press campaign against Dr. Arthur C. Millspaugh and his mission.
The attacks on Dr. Millspaugh in the Majlis were not entirely unexpected, but the number of deputies desirous of voicing anti-Millspaugh sentiments, the violence of the attacks and the complete lack of any adequate defense of the mission have come as something of a surprise. The prestige of certain of the attacking deputies, moreover, especially Dr. Mossadegh, bodes no good for the future of the mission. Dr. Mossadegh’s speech in opposition to the Financial Mission was devoted primarily to criticism of the Mission’s handling of the food supply, price control and distribution, the phases of his work concerning which Millspaugh meets the most criticism and opposition. Mossadegh also flayed the Government for the type of men selected for the Mission, maintaining that all American advisers should be recommended and their performance guaranteed by the United States Government. This argument is, of course, completely ridiculous since all men coming to Iran for service with the Iranian Government come under strong Departmental recommendations and for the most part, all have been extremely capable men. Unfortunately as stated above, Dr. Mossadegh, despite his recent defeat at the hands of Seyid Zia ed-Din,90 is a very popular man in Iran, and his words carry a great deal of weight. His speech for the most part was from start to finish rather absurd and showed an amazing lack of knowledge for a man of his experience and reputation.
Other deputies involved in the onslaught worthy of mention here were Etebar, Kazemi (a cousin of the famous Bagher Kazemi, now Minister to Sweden), Keschavar, Tussi, Farivar, and Abdoh. Many others joined in the chorus, but for the most part merely echoed what [Page 398] had already been said by those mentioned. Of the speeches delivered, Kazemi’s was by far the worst, greatly exceeding the others in both vituperation and misstatement of facts. He singled out certain members of the mission for personal attacks either on moral grounds or because they were too young or because they were inefficient. He included Messrs. Shuckman, Lamb, Ferguson, Hansen, Solomon, and Wiens. Deputy Etebar demanded an investigation of the Mission and submitted a resolution to this effect. Such an investigation will in all probability take place and may be a very good thing for the Mission since a great number of the critics may quiet down when the fallacy of their arguments is shown. It is understood that Dr. Millspaugh intends to appear before a Majlis committee next week to explain his program and answer any questions the deputies may put to him. Keschavan attacked Millspaugh for engaging various non-American foreigners solely because they are foreigners while there are plenty of qualified Iranians available.
Although the defense was weak, Dr. Millspaugh was not entirely without supporters during the Majlis debate. Mr. Ardalan, the new Minister of Commerce and Industry and former Minister of Finance, made a speech in which the most telling argument he could muster was that he thought Dr. Millspaugh a very fine man. Deputy Heaqbat of Khuzistan also defended the Mission, particularly Mr. Solomon whose work he had observed and who in his opinion had demonstrated definite capabilities despite his youth. Support also came, surprisingly enough from none other than Seyid Zia ed Din Tabatabaj presumably at the suggestion of Sir Reader Bullard. The Seyid’s principal line of reasoning appeared to be that this is not the time for Iran to antagonize the United States Government no matter what the faults of the financial mission. He stated that he was opposed in principle to the idea of foreign advisers but that since they were here, it was the duty of the Government to support them. I personally doubt the Seyid’s sincerity but of course welcome any support our missions here may receive no matter what the source.
Many more deputies put themselves on the record as anxious to address the chamber attacking Millspaugh but fortunately the question of the Government’s program was after many days’ delay put to the vote, and the Saed Government was given the vote of confidence reported in my telegram number 260 dated April 17.91 It is a curious situation which finds the main attack on the Government consisting of opposition to Millspaugh, an opposition Saed fully shares with the deputies. It is also interesting to note that when the Government’s program was put to the vote the Tudeh party92 deputies voted en masse against the Saed Government.
[Page 399]The opposition to Millspaugh seems to come from three distinct groups: (1) the extreme nationalists led by Mossadegh; (2) the profiteers; and (3) the Russians. Of the three groups the second is by far the most vocal and the most irrational in its criticism and the third the most quiet but potentially the most dangerous. The Tudeh party vote mentioned above undoubtedly reflects the Soviet view on the American program since there is no reason to assume that the Russians are in any way hostile to Saed with whom they have usually been on good terms. Despite these trends and despite the furor of the past few weeks, I do not believe that the Iranian Government has any intention of dropping the adviser program although they would undoubtedly be delighted with the withdrawal of Millspaugh himself. It is possible, of course, that the Majlis may enact legislation limiting the powers of the Americans so that they will become literally “advisers.”
While Dr. Millspaugh is having a stormy passage and may not himself be able to weather the storm, I believe that there will be no serious attempt on the part of the Iranians to get rid of the whole financial mission. The air has been cleared now and Millspaugh now has a chance to answer specific complaints which I believe he will be able to do satisfactorily. The deputies have had their say and for the most part will probably let the matter drop at least for a while although certain members of the Majlis who are irreconcilably hostile to Millspaugh, such as Mossadegh, will keep up the attacks for some time to come. The situation is serious but not at the moment critical and it demands the utmost in tact, perserverance, and tolerance from every American in the employ of the Iranian Government. I shall not fail to keep the Department informed regularly of the position of the Financial and other missions in Iran.
Respectfully yours,