891.24/403: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Iran (Dreyfus)
147. Your 285, March 19. British agencies here, which have handled details of all wheat shipments to date, furnish following loading figures for North American ports:
November, 2,854 tons; December, 6,200; January, 4,700; February, 800; total to February 28:14,554.
To make up for small February shipments, War Shipping Administration is arranging to provide a Liberty ship to load about 8,000 tons at an Australian port in late March or early April for arrival Persian Gulf in early May.
British further advise that tanker shipments from Australia have been as follows:
October, 803 tons; November, 878; December, 1,417; January, 797; February, (incomplete) 1, 129; Total: 5,024.
Shipping authorities are understood now to have ordered complete utilization of all available tanker space, which averages about 500 tons per vessel, and it is hoped that average monthly shipments for March and succeeding months will be about 2,500 tons by this means. We are informed, however, that wheat brought by tanker is allocated first to AIOC and PAIC for their civilian employees and cannot, therefore, be counted as part of the 30,000 ton commitment to Iran. In this connection, we should appreciate information regarding arrangements in Iran for the division of wheat arriving on British and American vessels from North America or elsewhere.
March loadings from United States are still uncertain, but Department is actively working on this problem and will make every effort to see that total June arrivals in Persian Gulf are adequate.
For your information, War Department plans to send 2,000 tons wheat for General Connolly’s civilian labor on a ship scheduled to clear from this country in near future. This is in addition to supplies promised Iranian Government, AIOC and PAIC.