Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE the 12065, 6, 1982 WASHINGTON State By Dept. DEB NLT, Date 9-10-85 August 11, 1952 SECRET SECURITY INF ORMA I ION SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS IRAN: Although Ambassador Henderson is exasperated at the sense - less provocation afforded by Mosadeq's note to the British of last Thursday, he is inclined to believe that Mosadeq's original motive was to open negotiations looking toward an understanding with the British that would alleviate the Iranian financial situation. Emphasizing the speculative character of his analysis, Henderson suggests that the Mosadeq faction, in drafting the note, became apprehensive that its tenor might be interpreted by the more extremist Iranian elements as being friendly or conciliatory. Consequently, Mosadeq may have sought to protect himself against extremist charges of appeasement of the British by prefacing his offer to negotiate with fresh attacks and demands. In a similar fashion, the strong agitation by extremist and communist groups against any resort to international arbitration may have led Mosadeq to forestall accusations that he favored international arbitration by proposing instead a submission to Iranian courts of those claims not resolved in the negotiations. Henderson further reports that Mosadeq told him Thursday evening that he had not intended to close any doors but rather had in- - tended to open them by inviting negotiations. This statement, Henderson believes, may have been designed to give the impression that Mosadeq was not rejecting international arbitration, particularly since he did not explicitly so reject it. Henderson, however, doubts that international arbitration could be accepted in the Iranian political context unless it were a segment of an over-all oil settlement of which Iranian public opinion approved. In assessing the alternatives now open to the British, Henderson believes their most constructive action would be to respond with a polite but firm denial that the new claims made against them have any valid basis, but to augment that response with a statement that they were prepared to enter into discussions concerning all points of difference between the two countries. TRIESTE: On Friday, Italy sent us a note protesting formally the extension of many Yugoslav laws and regulations to the Yugoslav zone of the Free Territory of Trieste. The note, sent to the British and SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION