34. Memorandum of Conversation1

SUBJECT

  • Arrival in New York of Mohamad Hosein and Khosro Qashqai

PARTICIPANTS

  • Mr. Gerald Dooher
  • Mr. C. Vaughan Ferguson, Jr.

Mr. Dooher called me from New York to report the results of his luncheon with the Qashqai brothers who arrived in New York today. He said the ostensible reason for the visit was that Mrs. Mohamad Hosein Qashqai is expecting another child in the immediate future and the Qashqai family wished it to be born an American citizen. The real purpose of the visit, however, is to establish some sort of contact with the United States Government whereby the Qashqai tribe may be able to establish “stability” within Iran.

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While in this first meeting the brothers were naturally rather secretive about their mission, Mr. Dooher believes that what they actually want is a large sum of money in the neighborhood of a million dollars which they would use to buy off the southern garrison in Iran. The brothers feel that Prime Minister Mosadeq will either die or resign within a very short time and that this will be followed by a period of complete chaos in which it will be necessary for there to be some stabilizing influence. Although not so stated, it seems apparent that the Qashqais envisage establishing an autonomous regime in southern Iran out of this chaos and that they need money to make sure that there is no resistance to their designs on the part of the Iranian Army.

Mr. Dooher stated that the Qashqai brothers are solidly in favor of nationalization, are strongly supporting Prime Minister Mosadeq at present, and have become very anti-British. He said that for reasons which could not be stated over the telephone the recent telegram from Tehran reporting an approach by the Qashqais to the British Embassy should be discounted.2

The brothers will proceed to Washington shortly and desire to meet with Ambassador Wiley, Justice Douglas, Mr. Allen Dulles as well as Mr. McGhee and other appropriate officers in NEA. Mr. Dooher stated that the Qashqai tribe plans to leave one of the four ruling brothers in the United States.

  1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1950–1954, 788.00/6–2551. Top Secret. Drafted by C. Vaughan Ferguson, Jr., of the Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs.
  2. The reference is to telegram 3351 from Tehran, June 20. (Ibid. 888.2553–AIOC/6–2051)