Office of the Historian

36. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Talbot) to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Harriman)1

Washington, June 6, 1964.

SUBJECT

  • Your Meeting with Shah of Iran, 4:30 p.m. June 6

The Shah’s meeting with the President yesterday was warm and cordial. As expected, the Shah devoted considerable attention to the following [Page 75] subjects: Arab designs on Khuzistan, which he said were now backed by Khrushchev, who is anxious to deny Middle East oil to the West; the consequent need for enhanced Iranian defensive capabilities; the suitability of Bendar Abbas for use by the United States for a base; and the Shah’s fears that the oil companies would give preferential treatment to Arab producing countries now that OPEC had become what the Shah called an “instrument of Arab imperialism”.

In connection with the latter point, the President told the Shah that we would speak to the oil companies about the Shah’s misgivings. At the White House luncheon, following the private meeting, both the President and Secretary Rusk spoke to Mr. Howard W. Page of Standard Oil of New Jersey and Mr. George Parkhurst of Standard Oil of California, emphasizing United States Government interest in seeing that the companies treat Iran fairly. Later in the afternoon Messrs. Page and Parkhurst called on Mr. Talbot and reiterated their appreciation of Iran’s situation and the agreement of the companies to ensure fair treatment for Iran in the OPEC negotiations. Details of this discussion are included in the attached memorandum of conversation. It would be very helpful if you would reassure the Shah further on this point and convey to him the assurances expressed by Messrs. Page and Parkhurst.

It is expected that the discussions with the Shah at the 5 p.m. “tea” will be concerned mainly with military affairs, specifically the Shah’s program for military modernization and the possibilities of United States sales of modern tanks and transport aircraft to Iran to cover the most urgent replacement needs. Mr. Talbot will be present at the “tea“, and the other guests will be:

DOD—

  • Mr. Sloan

JCS—

  • Major General J.T. Kingsley (Special Assistant for Military Assistance)
  • Major General Perry B. Griffith (Chief, Military Assistance, STRICOM)
  • Major General George M. Eckhardt (Chief, ARMISH/MAAG, Tehran)

WHITE HOUSE

  • Mr. Komer

STATE—

  • Mr. Rostow
  • Mr. Kitchen

AID—

  • Mr. Macomber
  • Mr. Robert M. Macy (Director, USAID, Tehran)
  • Mr. Bartlett Harvey (Acting Assistant Administrator for Program)
  1. Source: Department of State, NEA/IRN Files: Lot 69 D 30, Staff Studies. Confidential. Drafted by Tiger and cleared by Jernegan.↩