800.24591/6–145
Memorandum by the Acting Chief of the Division of Middle Eastern Affairs (Minor) to the Acting Secretary of State
Before determining what action may be taken to persuade the British and Russians to withdraw their forces from Iran, it is necessary to clarify the position with regard to the evacuation of American forces from that country. This Division strongly favors the withdrawal of American forces from Iran both because of the Iranian request that this be done and because the American Army has formally announced the termination as of June 1 of the supply mission through Iran.
There are, however, two complicating factors which will have to be examined and clarified. First of these is the position of the War Department, which has indicated informally43 that it will be some months before transports become available to remove the remaining 11,000 American troops from Iran. The War Department further states that even after this troop withdrawal it desires to leave about 1,000 men in Iran, half as caretakers to guard installations until they are disposed of and the other half as ATC44 forces to service the airfield at Abadan, Iran, which is important to the line of communications [Page 376] to the Far East. It is unfortunate that the Persian Gulf Command announced publicly the termination of its mission when the War Department has not had in mind the immediate evacuation of our forces from Iran. This may conceivably be construed as an indication of bad faith or seized upon by one or both of our allies as an excuse to delay the withdrawal of their own forces from Iran.
A second factor requiring clarification is the attitude of the Iranians themselves. As indicated by the Iranian Minister, the Iranians are little perturbed about the presence of our forces. The Foreign Minister went so far as to request our Embassy in Tehran to delay the withdrawal of our troops until the forces of our allies depart. Furthermore, the Iranians have requested this Government to leave part of our railway troops in Iran for several months in order to train Iranians and effect an orderly turnover of the railway. Thus, Iran, while requesting immediately withdrawal of forces on one hand, urges, on the other, that we retain them in Iran. In addition, the speed with which our forces can withdraw from Iran will depend to a great extent upon Iranian cooperation in taking over responsibility for and operation of the railway, ports and other technical services.
For your information, it should be pointed out that Russian and British forces are in Iran by virtue of the Iranian-British-Russian Treaty of January 29, 1942. Under strict interpretation of the terms of this treaty it is believed that both the British and Russians have the right to remain in Iran until six months after the termination of the war against Japan. The Iranian Foreign Minister, in a conversation with our Ambassador to Iran, declared that this request for withdrawal is based on the spirit and not the letter of the treaty.
Further and immediate consultation will be had with the War Department and with the Iranians. The British have also expressed their desire to consult with us on this question. In the meantime, it is felt that your press statement of May 31 covers the situation adequately.45
- During conversation on May 25, 1945, of Lt. Col. S. W. Connelly of the Missions Section, Operations Division, War Department, with the Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Allen) and Mr. Minor; memorandum, of May 25 by Mr. Minor not printed. For formal views of the War Department on the evacuation of foreign troops from Iran, see letter of June 19 from the Secretary of War to the Secretary of State, Foreign Relations, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, vol. ii, p. 956.↩
- Air Transport Command.↩
- Mr. Grew was asked, at his press and radio news conference on May 31, whether the Iranian Government had asked the United States to take its troops out of Iran. Mr. Grew’s reply in full was: “I will give you a statement for attribution on this question. I understand that the Iranians have made such a request, but the formal text of such request has not yet been received in the State Department. This Government naturally understands and sympathizes with the point of view of the Iranian Government, and I believe that it is well known that the number of American troops in Iran is already being rapidly reduced.”↩