Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Near East Region; Iran; Iraq, Volume XII

295. Memorandum From the Deputy Director of the Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs (Kitchen) to the Acting Secretary of State¹

Washington, February 2, 1955.

SUBJECT

• Report [less than 1 line of souce text not declassified] Regarding the Shah’s Current Attitude

An American source travelling with the Shah has reported the following [less than 1 line of source text not declassified]:²

1. The Shah inquired if his message to the President had been delivered. This refers to the oral request which he made [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] in Palm Beach that the President be informed that His Majesty would not respond to the President’s invitation that the Shah submit a memorandum regarding his position and views at the conclusion of his visit. The Shah asked [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] to indicate that he still hoped to obtain further information regarding U.S. plans involving the strategic role of Iran in Middle East defense and our intentions with regard to increasing the efficiency of the Iranian Army.

2. The Shah at one point apparently made the offhand remark that he “hoped the ground would not be cut out from under certain countries in the Middle East as was now apparently happening in the Far East.” [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] described this as symptomatic of a combination of uncertainty and petulance which the Shah occasionally gives vent to. He clearly continues to be uncertain about our interest in defining his military role and aiding him in accomplishing it.

3. The Shah has emphasized to [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] that what happens in the next few days as far as receiving information from us is very important, and that it will affect his actions in the immediate future.

I understand that Mr. Allen Dulles did report on the substance of paragraph (1) above at a recent meeting of the National Security Council,³ although it is not clear whether Mr. Dulles made reference to the question of submitting a memorandum.

1. Source: Department of State, GTI Files: Lot 58 D 338, Military Aid 1955. Confidential. Also sent to Allen and Jernegan.
2. In a subsequent memorandum, February 2, Kitchen informed Allen and Jernegan of a further discussion with the Shah. The only additional point of importance, Kitchen believed, was that the Shah was “deadly serious” in considering an approach to the British for military assistance. (Ibid.)
3. [Footnote (21 lines of text) not declassified]