Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

Washington, August 30, 1957.

1.: The NSC Planning Board, in its meeting this morning, again considered the Department’s background paper, “Significance of a New Middle East Pipeline System.”2 In conformity with your memorandum of today’s date on the same subject we emphasized the Department’s hope that an early decision could be reached by the NSC.
2.: Accordingly, we have now been requested to prepare a draft statement of policy for Planning Board consideration. At the meeting the Justice representative reiterated the position of his Department that no decision be made with respect to Metline within the next four weeks while the Attorney General is negotiating for a relief settlement of pending litigation with certain major U.S. petroleum companies. The time that will necessarily be required for Departmental drafting and Planning Board consideration will probably consume the next month. If not, the paper when completed by the Planning Board, can be held back from NSC consideration until after October 1.
3.: The Planning Board would like to know the date on which the draft policy statement should be scheduled. Would you please have your action officer notify me when we expect to have the draft ready for Planning Board consideration.3

Source: Department of State, S/P–NSC Files: Lot 61 D 167, Middle East Petroleum Pipeline System, Construction of; NSC 5722. Secret.↩
Attached to Document 254.↩
Draft statements of policy on “Construction of a New Middle East Petroleum Pipeline System” were circulated to the NSC Planning Board on September 19 and 25. (Department of State, S/P–NSC Files: Lot 61 D 167, Middle East Petroleum Pipeline System, Construction of; NSC 5722) For text of a draft statement of policy sent to the National Security Council on September 30, see Document 265.↩

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Near East Region; Iran; Iraq, Volume XII