891.6363/12–847
The Ambassador of the Soviet Union in Iran (Sadchikov) to the Iranian Prime Minister (Qavam)1
I have informed the Soviet Government of your letter of November 5, of this year, declaring that the Majlis had decided to consider as null and void the agreement for the creation of the joint Irano-Soviet petroleum society concluded between Iran and the U.S.S.R. on April 4, 1946. Your letter contains an erroneous reference to the law of December 2, 1944, on the subject of concessions, for, as it is known, the joint Irano-Soviet petroleum company for northern Iran is not a concession but a joint Irano-Soviet enterprise.
The Soviet Government instructs me to bring the following to the attention of the Government of Iran:
In the agreement between the Governments of Iran and the U.S.S.R., [Page 982] signed April 4, 1946, by Prime Minister Qavam of Iran in the name of Iran and by Ambassador Satchikoff in the name of the Soviet Union, the Iranian Government manifested its consent to the creation of a joint Irano-Soviet petroleum company for the prospection of petroleum-bearing regions in northern Iran.
The acquiescence of the Iranian Government in the creation of the aforesaid company was also confirmed by His Majesty the Shah of Iran in a special declaration made to Ambassador Satchikoff April 8, 1946.
The agreement of April 4, 1946, stipulated that “a treaty for the organization of the above-mentioned Irano-Soviet petroleum company which shall be concluded later on the basis of the terms of the present letter will be submitted for ratification when the newly elected Majlis of Iran shall begin its legislative activity and in any case not later than seven months from March 24, of this year”. That is to say, not later than October 24, 1946. Thus the aforementioned agreement contains a direct engagement of the Iranian Government to submit to the Majlis within a definite period the treaty for the creation of a joint Irano-Soviet oil company.
This agreement was violated by the Government of Iran, for the Government of Iran refused to conclude the treaty for the creation of a joint Irano-Soviet oil company in spite of the fact that the conclusion of this treaty was provided for by the aforementioned agreement.
Another violation of the engagement assumed by the Iranian Government consisted in the fact that the question of the Irano-Soviet petroleum society was studied by the Majlis one year after the expiration of the period fixed by the Irano-Soviet agreement of April 4, 1946.
The third violation of the aforementioned agreement was that the Iranian Government not only has not submitted for ratification by the Majlis the treaty on the creation of the joint Irano-Soviet petroleum company as provided for in the agreement but has even pronounced itself to the Majlis against the conclusion of such a treaty. In so doing the Iranian Government has treacherously violated its undertaking.
The Soviet Government, moreover, cannot ignore the fact that the decision of the Majlis in nullifying the agreement for the creation of the joint Irano-Soviet petroleum company for Northern Iran at the same time that the British petroleum concession in the South is maintained, represents an act of categoric discrimination against the U.S.S.R.
[Page 983]In view of the foregoing the Soviet Government declares that the inimical attitude of the Iranian Government toward the Soviet Union is incompatible with normal relations between the two countries and that the Iranian Government will be responsible for the consequences.
I beg you to accept, etc.2
- Copy transmitted to the Department by Tehran in despatch 561, December 8.↩
- Telegram 3249, November 21, from Moscow, reported that on that day the Soviet press carried a Tass communiqué containing the texts of the recently exchanged Soviet-Iranian letters (891.6363/11–2147). The text of the Soviet Ambassador’s letter was conveyed to the Department in telegram 3258, November 22, from Moscow (891.6363/11–2247).↩