Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NLT (Navil Aide 1364 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE they DECLASSIFIED, WASHINGTON E.O. 12065, March 3-402 6, 1982 Sec. State Dept. DOB Guidelines, NLT, Date 12-26-85 June 12, 1952 By TOP SECRET SECURITY INFORMATTON SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS IRAN With regard to the concern expressed by our Ambassador in Tehran as to the present British attitude toward a settlement of the oil question with any new Iranian Government, we have informed Ambassador Henderson that we believe, from our talks with the British, that their position on the oil issue is actually less rigid than their stated conditions on a settle- - ment would make it appear. Our conversations have made the basic British position fairly clear, that is, the British need for Iranian oil has been sub- stantially diminished by the success of alternative arrangements and the commercial incentive to settlement is, therefore, not as strong as a few months ago. The main incentive is political, and the British are not willing to jeopardize their commercial arrangements with neighboring countries and their prestige throughout the world solely in order to reach an agreement which would stabilize the Iranian situation. The British therefore insist that any deal which may be worked out with Iran not be of such a nature as to serve as a temptation to other countries. In sum, although we have no assurance as to how flexible the British will be with regard to negotiations, we believe it possible within the framework of our present proposals to find a solution which should be acceptable to any reasonable and realistic Iranian Government. If this is not the case, however, we have not taken the position that the US would not give aid to an Iranian Government which gives evidence of its reasonableness in the absence of a "capitulation to the British, although we would like to have British agreement before doing so. The only solution to the problem will be through the adoption of a conciliatory attitude by both parties, and the US position should be to press both sides to this end. EGYPT The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs has given Ambassador Caffery a final report on the Egyptian conversations with the Sudanese delegation. The Foreign Minister stated that the Sudanese gave the impression that they were definitely sympathetic to the Egyptian point of view regarding the question of the Egyptian King"s title as King of the Sudan. However, the Sudanese made no commitments and made it clear that they could only report to the Mahdi (religious leader and leader of the TOP SECRET SECURITY INFORMATTON