Evening star., 1951-11-16
Dr.. Mossodegh and the Realities

Dr. Mossddegh and the Realities
AS he prepares now to return to Teheran by
way of Egypt, it may fairly be said of Premier
MoSsadegh that during his rather lengthy visit
here he has created an impression that scarcely
inspires confidence in his governments willing
ness or competence to settle the dangerous Anglo
Iranian oil dispute on an equitable and realistic
basis. The impression may not be wholly justified
but 1t nevertheless exists, and as long as it does
exist there will be marked reluctance to act
favoraby on his appeal for prompt American aid
to cope with his country's mounting economic
crisis.
That crisis, after all, is directly attributable
to the headlong, emotional and legally dubious
course that DR.. Mossadegh has followed in
natlonallz1ng the Anglo-Iranian company and
forcing the British to withdraw their highly
trained producing and managerial personnel from
the giant refineries at Abadan. AS result with
output brought to virtual ,standstill and with
huge quantities of stored oil unmarketable for
want of shipping facilities, Iran today is re-
ceiving no income from what used to provide
almost half of its total national revenue. So its
economy is crumbling. True enough, in asserting
the country's sovereign right to control its own
fabulous oil resources, the Mossadegh govern
ment has won victory of principle-a principle
that cannot be denied-but the victory itself, at
this stage, is turning to ashes in the mouth
because it has been hammered out without
reference to the practical realities.
Dr. Mossadegh has complained-in his speech
the other day to the National Press Club-that
American newspapers have failed ito give a
complete and correct Interpretation of recent
events in Iran" Yet that speech Incidentally
reporters were extremely hard put to get copies
OF it in time to write complete and correct"
0~i@1 g. -
to explain the difficulty of trying to paint defni-
tive word pictures of just what the Teheran gov
ernment is driving at Thus besides being full of
hackneyed distortions about British imperialism
the speech contains little more than generalities
on the virtues of freedom and completely vague
references to some kind of plan" to produce and
market Oil on scale that will bring blessings
to all 1ranianS at some indeterminate date in
future AS for the stubborn facts of the present,
however DR.. Mossadegh and his colleagues have
thus far seemed at loss to present any program
OF action concrete enough, or workable and prom
Using enough to serve as the basis of sound
negotiated settlement that would really be good
for their own country and fair to Britain.
The stubborn facts, the hard realities, include
the following, among others: Cd Right now as
will be the case for years to come, Iran does not
have the capital, the skilled manpower or the
transportation facilities 1t must have for the
efficient exploitation and marketing of its great
petroleum resources, and (2) it is desperately in
need of economic and social reforms, but 1t can
not carry out such reforms unless and until it
once again receives oil revenue at least equal to
what it used to receive from Britain in the form
of concession fees and royalties Presumably, it
Is because of DIR. Mossadegh's refusal to make due
allowance for these and similar points that our
State Department mediators have failed after
three weeks of talks with him, to find a way
out of the Anglo-Iranian impasse. The situation
thus threatens to deteriorate further, with every
body losing except the men of the Kremlin
DR.. Mossadegh himself, like Britain and the
West in general, can hardly be happy about all
this. His victory of principle is in many ways
Pyrrhic victory, primarily because he has de-
clined to be realistic about it. He has twisted
the lions tail and that has pleased Trans ma
tionalistic temper. But what now? With little
likelihood of large-scale American aid at this
juncture, he Is going home empty-handed. Mean
while, his country is moving rapidly toward
bankruptcy, and unless he modifes his position,
or unless his growing non-Communist opposition
wins in next months elections, that bankruptcy
bringing in its train political chaos-is bound to
play directly into the hands of the Kremlin-
trolled Tudeh Party. The prospect must delight
the Politburo In Moscow.