891.6363/836: Telegram
The Chargé in Iran (Ford) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:15 p.m.]
227. Department’s 192, March 27. In informal conversation with Prime Minister Saed55 I called to his attention Tass release on oil [Page 447] concessions. He pointed out that provisions of Soviet-Iranian Treaty of 192156 could be revoked only with respect to valid concessions, and that concessions must be approved by Majlis to be valid. He then reiterated Iranian position that Khostaria Concession, principal basis for Russian claims to exclusive rights in northern Iran, was never valid since never approved by Majlis.57 He therefore considered northern Iran definitely open to development by oil interests of any nation.
When Draper of Standard-Vacuum asked whether northern area could be included in concession being sought by his company, Saed replied he knew of no reason to contrary, although he admitted it might be wiser to defer any active exploration of that area until after Soviet troops should have been withdrawn and suggested that a clause to that effect might be inserted in concession.
Draper privately assures me that despite this apparent freedom to enter northern zone, he proposes to confine his present negotiations to southeastern area.
- A change of government had occurred on March 17, 1944.↩
- Signed at Moscow, February 26, 1921, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. ix, p. 384.↩
- For correspondence regarding the Iranian position, see Foreign Relations, 1921, vol. ii, pp. 649–651.↩