Playing It Smart and Dumb

July 26, 1954 — The Leader-Republican


The Mossadegh Project | February 11, 2024                      


An editorial on the Iran oil consortium in a Fulton County newspaper serving Gloversville and Johnstown, New York.

Iran Oil Consortium | Archive (1953-1954)




Iran Looks Ahead

Iran should be back in the oil business soon, and the Mossadegh policy of carrying on dangerous flirtations with Russia has been sharply reversed. [example?] The first is evident in an official announcement of the successful conclusion of oil talks with the consortium of eight foreign countries which hopes to produce and market Iranian oil.

The basis for a definitive contract, according to Finance Minster Amini, [sic—Minister] has been established and can be adopted as soon as agreement is reached with Britain regarding compensation for the nationalized properties. [Ali Amini]

The second is revealed by a sharp Iranian reply to the Russian note of July 8, warning Iran not to join the Turkish-Pakistan defense pact if she knows what is good for her. The reply vigorously asserts Iran’s right to form alliances and maintain her security and defense, independence and integrity.

Russia has alternately played it smart and dumb in Iran since 1946. In that year Moscow aroused bitter feeling by trying to detach the northern province of Azerbaijan by fomenting a “people’s revolution” and using Russian troops to keep government forces from putting it down. The latest Kremlin note has aroused anti-Russian feeling in Iran to the highest pitch since that year.

If it wasn’t clear to Iranian officials that letting Russia exploit Iranian oil would be fatal to their country’s independence, the Soviet note has driven the point home.


Divvying Up the Loot: The Iran Oil Consortium Agreement of 1954
Divvying Up the Loot: The Iran Oil Consortium Agreement of 1954

Search MohammadMossadegh.com



Related links:

Iran Back in Business | The Leader-Republican, Feb. 2, 1954

Persian Oil | The West Australian (Perth), July 21, 1954

West’s Iran Problem Has Been Cleared Up | Spokesman-Review, Feb. 20, 1956



MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”

Facebook  Twitter  YouTube  Tumblr   Instagram