To the Editor:

Dr. Zandy has many times expressed disapproval of President Johnson and his administration. [LBJ] Most specifically these disapproving comments have been in regard to foreign policy, i.e. Foreign aid, our presence in South Vietnam. I may be off on the wrong track, but his comments are leading me to believe that Dr. Zandy is not entirely all pro-U.S. in his beliefs.

This strikes a rather cynically sour note in me since Dr. Zandy recently stated in a radio interview that he was born in Iran (Persia). To date, I have yet to read or hear him speak out against the aid to Iran that the U.S. has been providing both economically and militarily for years.

A news item out of New York radio today reported that delivery of several jet-fighter planes will soon be made to Iran and that some 500 men from Iran are presently being trained in the United States to maintain and operate these planes. Included in the same news report was the information that, at the same time Iran is purchasing jet fighter planes from the U.S. it is also purchasing tanks and other military armaments from the U.S.S.R. I wonder if the U.S.S.R. is also training Iranian personnel in the maintenance and the operation of their tanks and arms.

No one will disagree that the geographical location of Iran leaves much to be desired. It is bordered on the north by the U.S.S.R. and the Caspian sea on the south by the Persian and Oman gulfs, on the west by Iraq and on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan (all three of which I believe are known to be pro communist states.)

Iran’s history, as I believe Dr. Zandy will verify, has been one of strife. It has been torn apart as far back as the Persian wars by oppression, occupation of foreign rulers, wars of dynasties (it was once ruled by the Zand dynasty in the 1700’s). Iran has had separatists governments supported and brought into existence by the pro-communist leaders in the country, has had a pro-communist premier (Premier Mossadegh—ousted in 1951) the forced abdication of Reza Shah Pahlevi in favor of his son Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlevi, who in turn, was forced into exile during World War II by Great Britain and Russia. [Pahlavi] It is a state, which in 1949, did not sign the NATO pact, nor in 1954, the SEATO pact, but it did in 1954 sign a 25 year consortium and in 1958 sign the CENTO pact. The signing of the CENTO pact suggests that it takes a central position somewhere between NATO and SEATO. Iran also has a liaison with and a pact with the U.S.

FEMALE CURIOSITY

To the Editor:

I am deeply impressed with “Female Curiosity’s” widespread and fairly accurate knowledge about political situations in countries outside the western hemisphere. I refer specifically to her remarks about the sequence of historical events in Iran since the end of World War II.

It is unfortunate that many Americans like “Female Curiosity,” are entirely misinformed about the true personality and great leadership of Dr. Mossadegh in Iran, by calling him “pro-communist premier!” This eminent nationalistic figure proved to be a rigid bulwark against Russian influence and infiltration in Iran. As a member of Persian Parliament, he succeeded in killing a government bill which was designed to give Russia an oil concession in the northern provinces of Iran. Further, to prevent any future attempt by the USSR to seek an oil treaty in Persia, Dr. Mossadegh introduced a bill in the parliament for the nationalization of the entire oil industry throughout Iran.

As premier, Dr. Mossadegh refused to sell nationalized oil to Russia or to Russian satellite countries in eastern and central Europe, at a time when the treasury was empty and the western powers had placed an embargo on oil from Persia.

Dr. Mossadegh was warmly supported and respected by the people of Iran, except for a handful of top military officials and men who, for the sake of their many unlawful privileges, remained loyal to the Shah and with the help of CIA finally brought about Dr. Mossadegh’s downfall.

It is generally assumed by Americans that the present Shah of Iran is a good friend of the U.S. Evidence shows that the Shah and his military clique (like General Ky and his military junta in South Vietnam) are friends of the U.S. dollar!

HASSAN F. ZANDY
Professor of Physics, University of Bridgeport.