In his long-awaited appearance before the United Nations Security Council, Premier Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran was something of a disappointment.

None of the histrionics for which he is famous was in evidence. He read the opening pages of his address with a minimum of expression and then turned the rest of it over to an assistant to read. [Allahyar Saleh]

The speech was no more than a repetition of former Mossadegh statements. It said that Iran would not yield to outside pressure in her oil dispute with Britain, that nationalization of oil was an internal Iranian matter and not subject to action by the Security Council.

Premier Mossadegh made quite a point of desiring direct negotiations with the British, but he made the field of negotiation so narrow that any beneficial settlement seems virtually impossible.

In his lack of any constructive suggestion which might lead to a way out of the oil impasse, Premier Mossadegh gave the impression of a man asking sympathy for being caught in a trap of his own making and not willing to make the slightest effort to extricate himself. [Clever, but it is simply untrue that Iran offered no solution to the problem]

The sad part of it is that a settlement of mutual advantage still would be possible if it were approached in a reasonable attitude. At the moment the British seem considerably more in such a mood than the Iranians.

In view of the tremendous stakes at issue, any change, if it comes, hardly could help being for the better. But the situation warrants anything but optimism.