228. Editorial Note
On February 20 Henry Cabot Lodge reported to President Eisenhower on his visits to Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. His report on Iran follows:
“The King of Iran sent you many warm regards. When he is calm, he thinks clearly, but I would judge that he is not beyond having an emotional impulse which could lead him to do something dangerous. At the moment he insistently demands an army much larger than the one he has. He needs to be persuaded of the need for making his present army into a quality army—which it definitely is not. Tactful handling can go a long way with the King.
“Both the Foreign Minister, Mr. Ardalan, and the Minister of Court, Mr. Ala, said that they wanted us to get more credit for our economic projects, which, they say, place too much emphasis on administration and are too much under the influence of technical considerations. The President of Tehran University wants ‘an American building,’ which would be known as such by the public.
“I recommend that we do more of this kind of thing. Earmarking a very small percentage for such projects pays very big dividends.
“I was advised by U.S. sources in Tehran that NSC policy today prevents such projects and that NSC policy requires that everything we do must be done in such a way that the Iranian Government gets the credit. Yet here are the Iranian officials themselves who want us to get some credit.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Administrative Series, Henry L. Cabot, Jr., 1957–1958 (1))
An account of Lodge’s conversation with Foreign Minister Ardalan on February 3 is an enclosure to Despatch No. 465 from Kabul, February 6. (Department of State, Central Files, 788.5/2–658) A memorandum of Lodge’s discussion with Minister of Court Ala, February 2, is ibid., NEA/GTI Files: Lot 60 D 533, Iran, U.S. Relations, 1958.