Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NLTCHaval OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402 State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 April 13, 1951 By DEB NLT, Date 9-4-85 TOERE I SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS IRAN Embassy Tehran reports that the strike situation in the southern oil fields has suddenly worsened. Prime Minister Ala informed the Embassy last night that 'twenty thousand Tudeh-led strikers were milling through the streets of Abadan. 11 In a clash between troops and strikers at Bandar Mashur several Iranian women and children, who had been placed in front of the strikers, were reported killed when troops were forced to fire on the advancing mob. Marshal Shahbakhti, whom the Shah appointed emergency commander last evening, was reportedly en route for Abadan. Meanwhile military forces in Abadan and Bandar Mashur were being reinforced by tanks and armored cars from Ahwaz. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the situation would be brought under control. He urged the US to exert its influence to prevent any armed intervention by the British, stating that any such move would provide an excuse for possible Russian action in the North. We conveyed the substance of the above to the British Ambassador yesterday evening and expressed our serious con- cern over any use of British forces which might lead to Soviet interven- tion under pretext of the 1921 Soviet-Iranian treaty. We added that if the situation should get beyond Iranian control and if the UK finds it necessary to take vigorous action, we hope that this would not be done without the request, or at least the consent, of the Iranian Government and after consultation with the US. AUSTRIA Austrian Foreign Minister Gruber has asked Minis - ter Donnelly to report to Ambassador Jessup the following conversation which Gruber had with Gromyko just before leav- ing Paris for Vienna. Gruber says Gromyko discussed the Austrian treaty freely, and this time he did not attempt to connect it with Trieste or other issues. Rather, he argued that the US was already committed