Secretary of State Acheson and Foreign Secretary Eden had a long talk about Iran in Paris. [Dean Acheson, Anthony Eden] A new proposal to the Mossadegh Government seems in the making. But it is doubtful that the Truman Administration will be able to add a final diplomatic success to its record.

Things continue to get worse and worse in Iran because of the shut-off of the country’s oil revenues. But instead of getting down to serious negotiations, the Mossadegh party resorts to wilder and wilder denunciations of foreigners. As has been pointed out repeatedly, this helps only the Communists. The wild promises of the Iranian leaders and their inability to make good on most of them without oil money create the kind of discontent and chaos which Communists regard as the best fertilizer for the seeds of revolt which they have planted.

Admitting that there is a case for Mossadegh’s seizure of the oil properties and admitting also that the British were not exactly selfless dispensers of charity in the past, the Westerners have offered concessions more recently. But Mossadegh seems to be insisting that there shall be no settlement except on terms which he dictates. It is hard to do business that way. Yet the effort will have to be continued by the present administration or the new one for the reason also stressed time and again that Iran and its resources simply cannot be allowed to slip out of the orbit of the West.