Office of the Historian

32. Memorandum of Conversation1 2

Washington, October 22, 1969, 10 a.m.

SUBJECT:

  • Shah’s Talk with President Nixon

PARTICIPANTS:

  • Foreign
  • His Imperial Majesty the Shahanshah of Iran
  • H.E. Ardeshir Zahedi, Foreign Minister of Iran
  • H.E. Amir Aslan Afshar, Ambassador of Iran
  • United States
  • The Secretary of State
  • The Hon. Joseph J. Sisco, Assistant Secretary of State
  • The Hon. Douglas MacArthur, American Ambassador to Iran
  • Mr. Jack C. Miklos, Country Director for Iran

The Shah opened the conversation by saying how pleased he was with the talk he had with President Nixon yesterday. He said the President has an excellent understanding of Iran, its problems and its achievements. He said that he told the President of his need to increase his oil income and he thought the President would try to help him either with the Consortium or through the provision of a special import quota for Iran to market oil in the United States. In this connection he said that unlike other countries Iran would spend every penny of money earned in this way in the United States. He estimated that he could spend about $400–$500 million here annually for military equipment and a variety of goods such as locomotives, telecommunications and electronic equipment, and other capital products.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1245, Harold Saunders Files, Middle East Negotiations, Visit of Shah of Iran, October 21–23, 1969. Secret; Limdis. Drafted by Miklos. The meeting took place at Blair House. The conversation is part 1 of 8. Parts 2 to 5 are also published; parts 6 to 8 are not. According to the President’s Daily Diary, Nixon met the Shah privately for an hour and forty minutes on October 21 before they were joined briefly by Peter Flanigan, the President’s Assistant for International Economic Affairs. (Ibid., White House Central Files) Flanigan’s summary of the conversation can be found Ibid., Subject Files, Conference Files, 1969–1974, Box 63. In Telegram 4465 from Tehran, October 29, the ambassador conveyed the Shah’s satisfaction following the visit and the Iranian impression that the Shah had received the warmest reception ever in the United States. (Ibid., RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 7 IRAN)↩
  2. In a meeting with Rogers, the Shah expressed his satisfaction at his previous day’s talks with the President on the oil quota scheme.↩