840.20/3–849
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Satterthwaite) to the Secretary of State
Subject: Declaration on Greece, Turkey and Iran.
Problem:
To concert with the British and the other governments concerned the form and scope of a declaration stating our interest in and support for the security of Greece, Turkey, and Iran, to be issued simultaneously with the conclusion of the North Atlantic Pact. To determine what powers should sigh such a declaration.
Backgrownd:
It has long been recognized by both the British and ourselves that the conclusion of the North Atlantic Pact might have undesirable repercussions on certain nations which would not be included in its scope. Their omission might be taken, by the nation in question as well as the USSR, as an indication that aggression against those nations would not produce any serious reaction on the part of the major western powers. It has been agreed in principle that this danger-should be avoided by the issuance of a special declaration. The British have indicated that they consider this virtually as important as the conclusion of the North Atlantic Pact itself.
The Greek and Turkish Governments have stated their interest in the issuance of a declaration of the sort proposed, and the Shah of Iran has likewise expressed a desire for some action of this type. The Turkish Government has asked to be consulted on the form and content of the statement before its issuance, and the British and ourselves have agreed to such consultation.
We and the British are in full agreement that the declaration should cover Greece and Turkey. Previously, the British have been reluctant to include Iran, but we were informed on March 8 that in the light of the consideration advanced in a conversation on February 18 (set forth in Tab A1), Mr. Bevin personally is now willing to accept the inclusion of Iran.
It was originally hoped that all seven members of the Pact would join in signing the proposed declaration, but preliminary talks have indicated that the smaller states would be unwilling to adhere to any statement covering Iran and might refuse even to sign anything covering the other three [sic] states unless it were watered down to a degree unacceptable to us. Furthermore, on February 17 the Turkish [Page 176] and Greek Ambassadors advised us2 that their Governments would prefer to have the proposed declaration made only by the major powers, the United States, United Kingdom, and, possibly, France.
On March 8 the British Embassy representatives read to us a telegram from London saying that Mr. Bevin was anxious to have by Thursday, March 10, a definite statement of U.S. agreement to the issuance of a declaration of the kind proposed, so that he could present the proposal on that date to a special Cabinet meeting being held to discuss the Atlantic Pact. The London telegram further said that Mr. Bevin believed it necessary to announce by March 15, on the occasion of the publication of the text of the Atlantic Pact, that a declaration regarding U.K. and U.S. concern with the security of Greece, Turkey, and Iran would be issued shortly. If this were not done, he felt, those three countries would appear to be left out in the cold during the two-week period which would elapse between publication of the text of the Pact arid its signature and the concurrent issuance of the proposed special declaration.
I informed the representatives of the British Embassy that the Working level of the Department had not completed its study of all aspects of this question and I doubted very much whether we could give Mr. Bevin a specific answer by Thursday. I also doubted whether we could agree to announce that a declaration would be made until agreement had been reached within the American Government as to the terms of the declaration itself. However, I said, it had been proposed that you should insert in the speech you are to give next week following publication of the Atlantic Pact a reference to American interest in peace and security in all parts of the World and a specific mention of our policy of support for Greece, Turkey, and Iran as an example of this interest. You should add that we intended to continue that policy. It was believed by most of the officers concerned in the Department that such a statement in your speech would be sufficient to take care of the situation pending the final conclusion of the Atlantic Pact and the issuance of a declaration on Greece, Turkey, and Iran.
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