Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NLT/NAVAL AIDE) 315 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE DECLASSIFIED WASHINGTON State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-102 By DEB NLT, Date 9-9-85 January 18, 1952 TOP SECRET SECURITY INF ORMA TION SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS IRAN We have suggested that Ambassador Henderson inform Prime Minister Mosadeq his request for financial assistance has been received by the US Government with the explanations he gave the Ambassador, but that in a matter as complex as this a reply can not be given as soon as the Prime Minister had asked. We have in- dicated our preference that this message not be conveyed as a personal message from the Secretary as this might indicate to Mosadeq that the US was impressed by his "ultimatum". The Counselor of the British Embassy in Tehran has informed our Embassy that the necessary administrative steps are being taken to close British consulates in Iran by January 21. EUROPEAN The new Belgian Prime Minister, Van Houtte, has DEFENSE FORCE spoken very frankly to Ambassador Murphy about the Belgian attitude regarding the European Defense Com- munity. The abstention of the UK is a dominant factor in Belgian thinking. Belgians are accustomed to rely on Great Britain for protection coupled with the knowledge that behind the UK is the US. Their absence from the EDC deprives that organization of this security factor. Belgians, he said, do not trust either France or Germany. He distrusts the political super- structure of the Pleven plan and does not understand why an international military force under auspices of NATO, with Germany accepted as a mem- ber of NATO, should not be adequate and acceptable to France. He is convinced the Belgian Parliament, backed by public opinion, would not accept the surrender of sovereignty inherent in the Pleven plan. Am- bassador Murphy comments that Van Houtte's expressed view, as well as Van Zeeland's, do not harmonize with the optimism of the Belgian repre- sentative to the EDC conference as reported from London yesterday. Our Charge in The Netherlands reports that he concurs with an estimate by the French Ambassador that the majority of the Nether- lands Parliament is solidly behind the EDF. He believes that support is growing steadily among hitherto undecided elements. The Cabinet is also believed to support the idea much more strongly as a consequence of the TOP SECRET SECURITY INFORMA" TION