890D.01/12–1845
The British Embassy to the Department of State
Record of Oral Communication
Message from Mr. Bevin
I wish to thank Mr. Loy Henderson orally for his very helpful criticisms when these two earlier drafts were first communicated to him. His comments enabled us to represent very forcibly to the French Government the objections which would be felt in America to the phrase “the leading role”, and as a result we were able eventually to induce the French Government to agree to a revised wording which is not open to similar objection.
I realise that the State Department would have preferred that evacuation plan should not have provided for retention of forces in Lebanon until United Nations Organisation have arranged for organisation of collective security in the Levant. But they will appreciate that the French Government hold very strong views on this point. When the agreement is regarded as a whole, this item, on which we have had to meet French views, falls into its proper proportions. After all, it is no small achievement to have persuaded the French to agree to evacuation by stages of the whole of the Levant, i.e. both Syria and Lebanon, beginning at a very early date. The complete evacuation of Syria will take place quite independently of discussion of the Levant problem by the United Nations. It will now be open to the United States Government and other interested governments, to do what they can to hasten the discussion of the Levant problem in the United Nations Organisation so as to enable evacuation of Lebanon also to be completed at the earliest possible date. We for our part agree that this will be very desirable.
We do not agree that the Levant agreements will give the Soviet Government the slightest excuse for keeping the troops in Iran after treaty date. In Iran date for withdrawal of Allied troops was definitely [Page 1184] laid down by treaty.86 In Syria and Lebanon there has hitherto been no treaty whatever providing for withdrawal of French troops.
- Treaty of alliance between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, and Iran, signed at Tehran, January 29, 1942, Department of State Bulletin, March 21, 1942, p. 249; for documentation regarding the position of the United States with respect to this treaty, see Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. iv, pp. 263 ff.↩