891.6363/10–3044: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union ( Harriman )
2566. You are requested to inform the Soviet authorities that the Government of the United States has observed indications of Soviet annoyance, as demonstrated by articles in the Soviet press75 and statements [Page 463] by Mr. Kavtaradze, following the recent announcement by the Government of Iran that all negotiations concerning petroleum concessions in Iran have been suspended for the duration.
In this connection the American Government desires to let the Soviet authorities know that the American Embassy in Tehran was instructed some days ago to inform the Iranian Government that the American firms which have been negotiating for an oil concession in southern Iran during the past year, at considerable expense and effort, have naturally been disappointed at the Iranian Government’s decision. We have expressed confidence, however, that the Iranian authorities have been conducting these negotiations in good faith, and have let it be known that when negotiations are resumed we expect American firms to be accorded no less favorable treatment than that given to any other foreign national or government.
Our policy in this case is based on the American Government’s recognition of the sovereign right of an independent nation such as Iran, acting in a nondiscriminatory manner, to grant or withhold commercial concessions within its territory. We are particularly concerned with the strict application of this policy in Iran, in view of the Declaration signed in Tehran as recently as December 1, 1943,76 by President Roosevelt, Marshal Stalin and Prime Minister Churchill, containing assurances of respect for Iranian sovereignty. In the light of that Declaration, the American Government would not be able, for its part, to concur in any action which would constitute undue interference in the internal affairs of Iran.
Sent to Moscow. Repeated to Tehran77 and London.
- Telegrams 4087, October 25, and 4100, October 26, from Moscow, reporting such indications, not printed; but see Moscow’s telegram 3967, October 17, p. 457.↩
- For text of Declaration, see Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943, p. 646; for correspondence concerning efforts by the United States in 1944 to implement the Declaration, see ante, pp. 306 ff.↩
- As telegram 649.↩