The Pittsburgh Press (March 19, 1946)
Iran appeals for help of United Nations
Truman plea to Stalin for unity forecast
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Iranian Embassy announced today that it has accused the Soviet Union of violating its 1942 treaty by retaining Red Army troops in Iran after March 2.
The protest came as some diplomatic quarters expressed belief the Iranian crisis may lead President Truman to send Generalissimo Josef Stalin a direct appeal for Big Three unity.
Iranian First Secretary Gholam Abbas Aram revealed that his country’s complaint to the United Nations Security Council was filed with Secretary-General Trygve Lie yesterday shortly after Lie’s arrival here for a three-day visit.
May release text
United Nations officials revealed today that Lie will make an announcement later today on the Iranian situation – presumably making public the text of the Iranian complaint.
The State Department denied that a White House communication to Moscow was being considered now. But it could not be expected to confirm an appeal by Mr. Truman before it was sent.
Such a top-level appeal would not be without precedent. On several occasions in the past Mr. Truman and his predecessor, the late Franklin D. Roosevelt, have gone over the head of the Soviet Foreign Office when Russian-American relations bogged down. It would be a logical last-minute move before the United Nations Security Council meets in New York next Monday.
May ask Big Three meeting
A direct communication to Stalin could take many forms:
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It could be an appeal to Stalin, in the interests of the United Nations Organization to remove Red Army troops from Iran before the Security Council meets.
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It could be a request to Stalin to send one of his top men – Foreign Commissar V. M. Molotov or Vice Commissar Andrei I. Vishinsky – to the Council meeting.
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It could be a proposal for another Big Three meeting – either of heads of states or their foreign ministers – to tackle controversies which have plunged Big Three relations to their lowest levels since before Russia entered the war.
Such an appeal would be timely. Nearly two weeks have passed with only silence from Moscow on American protests about Soviet policies in Iran and Manchuria. It was two weeks ago Saturday that all Russian troops were supposed to leave Iran.
Officials of the State Department’s Middle East, Eastern Europe and Far Eastern divisions met until well after closing hours last night with Secretary of State James F. Byrnes’ closest advisers.
There was a rash of reports from Washington, London and Tehran. They ranged all the way from unconfirmed reports of Russian pressure on Iran to refrain from appealing to the United Nations to similarly unconfirmed reports of secret Soviet-Iranian oil negotiations.
Denies dispatch
State Department spokesman Michael J. McDermott categorically denied one British newspaper dispatch from Tehran. It said U.S. Ambassador Wallace Murray had gone over the head of the Iranian government to appeal personally to Shah Mohammed Raza Pahlevi to place the Soviet-Iranian dispute before the United Nations.
Authoritative sources said the Russians have consistently raised the question of oil concessions every time the removal of Russian troops has been broached. But it also was learned on excellent authority that the American government has received no reports from Iran during the course of the present crisis to indicate that the Russians were pressuring Iran for oil concessions at this time.
Charges hostile bloc
The Moscow radio charged that “some reactionary circles” are seeking to promote an eastern bloc of Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan directed against the Soviet Union.
The broadcast was critical of the Arab League. It said the British had encouraged the league in hopes of using it in their own interest.
Radio Moscow and Soviet newspapers also continued their campaign against Greece. They claimed that Greek warships were maneuvering in Albanian waters and that Greek bands had raided Albanian villages.
Parleys reported
A Tehran dispatch to the London Daily Express said that Iranian Premier Ahmed Ghavam was in closer contact with the Russians than at any time since his Moscow talks failed. It said there had been frequent messaging between Tehran and Moscow in the past 24 hours.
Russia was believed to be pressing Iran for a decision on a Soviet oil concession in Northern Iran before the Security Council meeting. The British Foreign Office has stated its opinion that withdrawal of Red Army troops from Iran must precede an oil agreement.