780.00/9–1850
Record of Informal United States–United Kingdom Discussions, London, Saturday Morning, September 231
Topics for Discussion: Greece, Turkey and Iran (Items 4, 5 and 6)
- Participants:
-
Foreign Office:
- Mr. M. R. Wright, Assistant Under-Secretary of State
- Mr. G. W. Furlonge, Head, Eastern Department
- Mr. L. A. C. Fry, Eastern Department
- Mr. L. Barnett, Eastern Department
-
Treasury:
- Sir Ernest Rowe-Dutton, Third Secretary
-
Department of State:
- Mr. McGhee
- Mr. Woodbridge
- Mr. Parker
-
American Embassy, London:
- Mr. Dickens2
- Mr. Palmer
-
Foreign Office:
Convertibility of Sterling for Iranian Dollar Loan Repayments
(GTI—Item 5 continued)
Sir Ernest Rowe-Dutton reported on the conversations held on the subject of conversion of sterling to service Iranian foreign loans which had been held the previous day with Messrs. Woodbridge and Parker. He said that he understood that under present circumstances there was no other form of financial assistance the US could give to Persia other than Eximbank loans and that these could not be given unless there was some reasonable understanding on the subject of the conversion of sterling. In view of this he undertook to present the matter to the appropriate Ministers on Tuesday, September 26. He promised that a decision would be reached as soon as possible.
Mr. McGhee stressed the lack of alternatives. He said that in some ways Iran was more of a UK than a US problem and that in view of the fact that the principal export of the country, i.e., oil, is handled exclusively by a British company, AIOC, he felt that the Iranians were entitled to receive dollars for this purpose.
Mr. Wright stressed the fact that there was complete agreement on the situation in Iran and the need to act urgently.
Question of Security for Iran (GTI—Item 1 continued)
Mr. Wright said that if Turkey accepts the recent offer made regarding association with the North Atlantic Pact (he added that the UK had advised the Turks to accept) there remained the question of what should be done in respect to Iran. Three public statements had already been made by the US and UK covering Iran and he did not think that anything more could be usefully added. He thought instead that we should speak privately to the Iranian Government. However, the UK was still maintaining an open mind regarding a possible public statement depending on the reaction in Iran.
Mr. McGhee agreed with the foregoing. In speaking privately to the Iranians he felt we should stress that the offer to Turkey is only consultative, that Iran is not on the Mediterranean and that Iran could not legally adhere to the Atlantic Pact.
[Page 602]AIOC Problem (GTI—Item 4 continued)
It was agreed that further discussion should be postponed until after the UK Government had had conversations with Dr. Taqi Nasr. Mr. Wright repeated that HMG was considering guaranteeing a loan that AIOC might make to Iran or some other form of financial help. They had some question in their minds as to whether this help would weaken the bargaining power of AIOC and suggested that the granting of an Eximbank loan might likewise strengthen the Iranian position and increase resistance of that Government to making any agreement. It was pointed out that the Eximbank assistance would hardly have this effect since the immediate crisis in Iran related to the internal financial situation and the Eximbank loan would not be available to alleviate that.