Message from President Harry S. Truman to Secretary of State Dean Acheson

SEOREI THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON Signal Center 31 May 1951 FROM: USS WILLIAMSBURG TO : SIGNAL CENTER The White House Please advise Secretary of State that President approves sending following message to Mr. Atlee. " PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT TO PRIME MINISTER. 11 I express to you the serious concern of the Government of the United States which I am sure you share, at the present situation in Iran. I realize the great importance to Great Britain of a satisfactory solution of the controversy with the Iranian government concerning operations of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company. I am also acutely aware that it is essential to maintain the independence of Iran and the flow of Iranian oil into the economy of the free world. Recent information which has reached me has led me to believe that the Iranian government is willing and evenanxious to work out an arrangement with His Majesty's government which would safe- - guard basic British interests and which could satisfy the desires of the Iranian people for nationalization of their petroleum resources. The United States government has expressed to His Majesty's government in recent days its firm conviction that an opportunity is now presented by the Iranian government for negotiations which should be entered into at once. We earnestly hope that His Majesty's government can despatch to Teheran without delay qualified negotiators possessed of full powers to reach a settlement with the government of Iran, and who are prepared to put forward in an appropriate way a specific proposal consistent with the principle of nationization accept- ance of which was indicat ed by Mr. Morrison in his remarks on May s DEGLASSIFIED NATIONAL E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (E) ARCHIVES AND. NECORDS NSC 6-21-78 SERVIGE* letter, : SECRET MLICH NARS Date. 9-678 WLT 79.5