Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, The Near East and Africa, Volume VIII

740.0011 EW/2–2745

Memorandum by the Director of the Office of European Affairs (Matthews)¹⁴

[Washington,] February 27, 1945.

I attach a copy of a proposal with regard to Iran which Mr. Eden filed at one of the later meetings of the Foreign Secretaries at Yalta.¹⁵ Iran did not come up for discussion at any of the Big Three meetings.

The Russians declined to discuss the situation in Iran on the grounds: 1) that there was not sufficient time, and 2) that the period of tension in Iran was over and that consequently there was no real problem to discuss. The Secretary supported the attached British draft and urged that prompt consideration be given to the problem of Iran following the meeting. The official protocol of the proceedings of the Conference (to which the Russians agreed) contained the following brief statement on Iran:

“Mr. Molotov,¹⁶ Mr. Eden and Mr. Stettinius exchanged views on the situation in Persia. It was agreed that the matter be pursued further through diplomatic channels.”¹⁷

The British had an additional paragraph which they held in reserve to be added if the Soviet Government showed a willingness to discuss Iran and also to have some further statement with regard to the question of oil concessions.¹⁸ That paragraph reads as follows:

“After the withdrawal the whole question of the future exploitation of Persian oil resources not already covered by existing concessions should be the subject of discussions to be held within the framework of the Tehran Declaration of December 1st, 1943 and to which the Persian Government would be a party.”

14. Addressed to the Assistant Secretary of State (Dunn), the Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Ailing), and the Chief of the Division of Middle Eastern Affairs (Allen).

15. This proposal, presented by Anthony Eden, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, on February 11, 1945, stated that “a commencement of the withdrawal of [Allied] forces [from Persian territory] need not await the termination of hostilities, but should begin pari passu in stages as military considerations, including the use of the Persian supply route, may allow.” The full text of the proposal is printed in Conferences at Malta and Yalta, p. 819.

    At the meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill and their staffs at Malta, January 30 to February 2, 1945, Mr. Eden, on February 1, had raised with Secretary of State Stettinius the question of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iran and agreement had been reached on the importance of getting Soviet concurrence on the principle of gradual pari passu withdrawal; ibid., pp. 500, 501. For further references to documentation on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iran, see ibid., index, p. 1007.

16. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union.
17. For actual wording of the Protocol, see Conferences at Malta and Yalta, p. 982.
18. Mr. Eden’s proposal recommended also that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union not press “any suggestions for further oil concessions upon the Persian Government pending the withdrawal of Allied troops from Iran.” For documentation on the decision of the Iranian Government in 1944 to postpone negotiations with foreign interests for oil concessions, see Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. v, pp. 445 ff.