Evening star., 1946-04-05
Face Saving Is Seen
In Iran Oil Solution
UN May Have Won Only Moral
Victory, Writer Contends
By David Laurence

ing face for governments that get into
embarrassing positions but no better
example of it's operations has been fur
nished than the way Great Britain,
the United States and Russia extricated
themselves from the Iran dilemma.
On the surface it looks as If the
United Nations won victory over
Russia. But it could also turn out that
Russia outsmarted the other powers.
The answer will come only when it is
known what the government of Iran
does about oil wanted by the Soviet
and about the setting up of an autono-
nous republic friendly to Russia in the
northern part of Iran.
So far as the record of words is con-
cerned, Russia hasn't altered her
pledges or promises or conceded that
she violated any. The assumption that
the Soviet was maintaining troops in
Iran and coercing the little country was
widely made but nowhere is there any
record or investigation that proves it.
Troop Pledge Hedged.
True enough, the Russians promised
to evacuate their troops "if no unfore-
seen circumstances" arose, and there
were indications that some of these
circumstances might be the failure of
Iran to grant the Russians the con-
cessions they were asking. But when
the Moscow government now officially
announces that there wasn't the Slight
est connection between the promise to
withdraw troops and the matter of oil
concessions, the UN promptly accepts
the explanation and everybody seems
to be happy.
The Russians never before admitted
that there was any connection. All
they said and all they have now ad-
mitted is that the demands for oil and
the negotiations for the withdrawal OF
the troops happened to coincide and
were carried on in a parallel manner.
The British and American observers
can read into this all they like, but the
Russians innocently insist such suspi-
cions are unfounded.
The truth is the Iranian government
has Premier who is friendly to Russia
and he isn't likely to tell what the
Russians said or what pressure they
put on his government.
So long as Iran doesn't argue the
case further, the world will be no wiser.
What measures the Russians used to
lnflltrate into Iran what methods they
adopted to win the Premier to their
side, what form their propaganda took
to undermine the Iranian representa-
tive in New York by reports that he
didn't have the confidence of his gov
ernment and all the other maneuvers
that were made in the last fortnight
all this will not be put into perspective
until more information is available
from observers in Iran itself
Treaty Violation Is Plain.
Certainly there may be basis for the
pride of the UN in having kept Russia
from grabbing Iran completely There
may be basis, too, for the belief that
Russia might have used her troops
coercively if the UN hadn't stepped in
and put the white light of publicity on
the whole episode. Small nations
everywhere will take heart from the
way the UN operated But it remains
to be seen whether Russia didn't have
the situation well in hand when she
announced that she had an under
standing" with Iran and that there was
no use bringing the matter to the at
tention of the Security Council.
Russia wanted until April 10 before
discussing the Iran affair. A settle
ment was expected to be and has been
reached before that date-and on Rus
sia's terms. She did not take her
troops out of Iran on March as agreed
nor did she evacuate them anywhere
near that date. She now announces
that it will be May 6 and, because Iran
accepts that date, the Security Council
agrees to forget about Though the
violation of the treaty is as plain today
as it was on March 2.
Maybe the UN Security Council de-
cided that too much fuss had been
raised about the affair anyway and
accepted the easiest way out. Anyway
Russia has obtained her postponement
beyond April 10, succeeding by an
adroitly phrased note in getting the
matter off the Security Council table.
And still Moscow has plenty of time to
negotiate" for oil and other matters
with Iran. The UN may have won a
moral victory-but Russia may turn
out to have gotten what she wanted
in Iran.
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