112. Telegram From the Embassy in Iraq to the Department of State1
1058. Called on Prime Minister and Acting Foreign Minister Nuri this morning to give him substance of Department’s 809 April 6.2
Nuri asked me right off whether I had come to tell him we were now going to join Pact. I told him it was not that but that I did have some related things to tell him.
Nuri listened very attentively while I covered the points appearing in Department’s message. When I finished he said “I am not disappointed”. He believed he understood our position better than “some others”. He appreciated the force of the domestic political factors we had to consider in reaching decisions on foreign policy. He knew that in the field of foreign policy we had to work within certain limitations. Sometimes to be sure this delayed decisions unduly. He also felt that because of our patience and reasonableness some countries were led to underestimate the real depth of our determination. On balance he said “I am encouraged at what you have told me this morning”.
As I was leaving he expressed the hope that we would give him an indication of scope of military assistance we were prepared to extend to Iraq in FY 1957 just as soon as possible.
Once more as the Department will see, Nuri has revealed what an understanding friend of the United States he is.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 780.5/4–856. Secret; Priority. Repeated to Ankara, Karachi, Tehran, Cairo, Jidda, Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Rome, Paris, New Delhi, and London.↩
- Printed as telegram 1665 to Ankara, Document 110.↩