Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-05-27

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Of world war. even the savage flgf
The stakes are high in Iran.
the worlds current oil supply. ant
modern economies. They include
control of an area Of acute strate-
gic significance. compared to
which Korea is a mere byway.
They include the maintenance or
loss of Western prestige, such as
it is, throughout the Near and
Middle East. They may include
the continuance or discontinuance
of the Anglo-American working
partnership which is the core OF
the entire democratic alliance.
They could well include the in
viting or avoidance of a global
Armageddon.
Problem Not Insoluble
The Iranian problem, logically
speaking, does not look insoluble.
The trouble is that a peaceful
solution depends on the Iranians,
and they seem dangerously close
to passing the point where they
are capable Of speaking logically
This Is the problem:
The oil Of Iran has been the
stock and trade Of the Anglo
Iranian Oil Co.. a corporation in
which the British government
holds q controlling So per cent OF
the stock. Iran owns the oil;
Anglo Iranian has bought the
right to develop and market it
This company operates its more
than 80 wells, its 1000 miles OF
pipelines and its refinery at Aba
dan-the biggest In the world
under a lease which was signed
in 1888 and was supposed to be
good for 60 years. Abadan's oil
provides about 80 per cent Of Brit
aims domestic needs; 1t runs the
British fleet and much OF Western
Europe's machinery; a lot OF il
goes to the Commonwealth nations
as well.
Iran wants to take over the
exploitation Of this oil. Involved
is not only naturalization Of the
oil company, but also expropria-
tion-the handing over of the en-
tire property. Iran says she viii
continue to sell oil to Britain anc
the West, and will set aside part
of the profits POSSIBLY Is per
cent? to repay British investors
for their loss. The British. on the
other hand, are standing on their
legal rights. They are willing to
negotiate an increase in then
royalty payments. which cur
rently amount to % cents q
barrel, and make up about 43 pei
cent of the Teheran governments
revenue. They have offered
a $3.50 prof1t-sharing scheme
But they insist Iran has no right
to break the 1888 contract uni
laterally.
There would seem to be room
for compromise in this situation
The bulk of the oil, if it goes any
where, must go to the Yves
in any event t. Iran canno
use it herself and piping i
over the mountains to Russia
would present technical difflcultie!
which could not be solved fol
years, if ever. In addition, Irar
is wholly lacking in the know
how which would permit her tt
operate the business herself. Th'
United States will not help he
do it. Hard as stoppage Of thu
oil flow would hit the West, 1
would hit Iran harder. Not onl!
are some 10000 of her people
directly employed by the oil com
pany-the national livelihood o
II million Iranians is hanging IL
the balance.
Disregardins Economics
Unfortunately, as things bal
ance up for the Iranians. the pos
sible economic consequences o
their actions do not weigh yer,
heavily. They do not feel the,
have much to lose. This is tn
Vests great failure. Once-prou'
Persia today is a poor, backward
stagnant, feudal land, haphazardl
governed by few rich families
Her resentments, deep and bitter
are compounded by religious an
tagonism. They lead. inevitably
to a rabid nationalist sentiment
subscribed to alike by the politica
right and left. Iran is a classi
example of the colonial area whicl
capitalism has left rotten ripe 70
communism. The British and our
have talked lot abou
helping to improve the lot of tn
average Iranian. Talk is ahpu
as far as it has gone.
This crisis, long a-building, no
is moving with an avalanche rusl
The first distinct break was tn
failure of the Iranian Mails (pal
liament) last year to ratify tn
latest notifications of the oil-leas
agreement. On March 7 of thl
year, Premier Ali ,Razmara wa
murdered by the small terrorist
Moslem band of Feydayan Islam
for his opposition to Nationalist
ton. A week earlier, a resolutio
calling for naturalization of tn
oil properties had failed of pas
sage in the Mails. Feydaya
Islam promised to kill any off
Gals opposing naturalization.
One week after Razmara's dealt
impelled by growing popula
hysteria. the same Mails vote
unanimously to take over Anglo
Iranian. The new Premier, mod
crate Hussein Ala, long Trans Am
bassador in Washington, tried Il
six weeks to get the Parliame,
to change its mind. On April 2
convinced that he had failed an
fearing for his own life, he RI
signed.
The SNOWFALL was rolling. TT
young Shah Mohammed Rez