108. Memorandum From the Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence (Long) to the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (Dulles)1
Upon his return from the PSB luncheon, the Director asked for you and Mr. Wisner. In your absence he asked me to take notes on his remarks and to pass these on to you. As presented here they have the benefit of Mr. Wisner’s recollection and are slightly expanded to include pertinent information known to him.
1. There will be a show down with the British on the Iranian question within 48 hours. The US will go ahead with a proposal to support Mossadeq on a short-term basis whether or not the British come along, on the grounds that there is no other anti-Communist force of any apparent consequence which we could support.
CIA should move forward as rapidly as possible to develop the tribal contacts and to get hardware ready for immediate distribution in Southern Iran in the event of necessity. It might be desirable to have this hardware stored at a forward point, preferably on US controlled premises.
In response to Mr. Wisner’s question as to contacts with the British [less than 1 line not declassified], the Director indicated that these contacts should be kept on a planning basis and held there pending future developments.
[Omitted here is discussion unrelated to Iran.]