Evening star., 1951-10-03
Britain Shows Good Sense

Decision of the British government to comply
with Iranian orders for evacuation of British
technicianS from the Abadan refinery is a sound
one in the atmosphere that now prevails over
this entire controversy. The MosSadegh gov
ernment had made it abundantly clear that it
would not retreat from the order; the alternative
open to the British of maintaining their person.
mel in Abadan by force could easily lead to most
grave consequences.
One such consequence probably would have
been the complete rupture of any relationship
between the two governments within which
negotiated settlement could have been reached.
A second might well have been Russian counter
intervention by force in northern Iran, develop
ment that could turn Iran into second Korea
or could even touch off another world war.
Actually, in its recourse to the International
Court of Justice at The Hague and now to the
United Nations the British government is fol-
lowing an orderly pattern OF seeking resolution
of the problem through agencies which have
been established for the very purpose of recon-
Cling international differences And while the
Iranians have questioned the competence of
these bodies to rule on what they consider pure
ly an internal problem, their very willingness to
present their side of the case to the Security
Council is in itself an encouraging sign.
In this connection, incidentally, it is interest
ing 10 TeCdu LLdC Lle huSlO-1IdIlldIl COHCeSSlOu
went through very similar troubles in 1882 when
it was cancelled by the Persian government Of
that day After threat of force and the dis
patch of warships to the Persian Gulf, the
British then, as now, took their case to the In
ternational Court and then to the Council of
the League of Nations While naturalization,
as Such was not part of the Persian strategy of
that period, the Teheran government made the
same contention that the issue was domestic
one The Iranans did, however, argue their case
before the League. In that instance the dis
putants resumed direct negotiations while the
issue before the League and new conces-
sion contract was agreed upon. This parallel,
too, has encouraging implications.
Meanwhile, it is not inappropriate to take
note of certain strengthening of Mossadegh's
hand which has followed announcement of his
willingness to have the 1ranian case laid before
the Security Council, perhaps through his own
personal appearance.
Opposition deputies in the Nails who have
been blocking a vote of confidence for his oil
policy joined during the week end in signing
pledge that they would discontinue their oppo-
sition pending determination in the case by
the United Nations. They wanted the world to
know, they said, that in time of conflict with an
outside power Iran stands united.
Somewhat comparable to this expression was
pronouncement from the World Moslem Con-
gress purporting to assure the Mossadegh gov
ernment of the support of all Moslem comnu-
mites. While the congress is non governmental
organization that does not have the authority
to commit the Moslem states officially to any
course of action, it does have broad influence in
political affairs of the Islamic countries, size
able bloc in the United Nations, and in the total
of world opinion.