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Flirting with Neutrality: The Shah, Khrushchev, and the Failed 1959 Soviet–Iranian Negotiations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Roham Alvandi
Roham Alvandi*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Abstract

Despite the Eisenhower administration's strong support for the Pahlavi monarchy, tensions simmered under the surface of Mohammad Reza Shah's relationship with the United States throughout the 1950s. Following the Qarani coup attempt and the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy in 1958, the shah sought to diminish the Soviet threat to his regime and reduce his dependence on the United States by exploring Moscow's offer of a non-aggression treaty. Drawing on American, British, and Iranian sources, this article provides the first detailed history of these secret Soviet–Iranian negotiations that ended in disastrous failure for the shah in February 1959.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 3: Iran and the Cold War , May 2014 , pp. 419 - 440
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2014

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Footnotes

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the LSE Cold War Research Seminar in May 2013 and at a conference on “The Role of the Neutrals and the Non-Aligned in the Global Cold War, 1949–1989,” at the University of Lausanne in March 2014. The author is grateful to the participants at these gatherings, the reviewers of this special issue, as well as Eliza Gheorghe, Jim Goode, Alessandro Iandolo, Homa Katouzian and Vlad Zubok for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

References

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15 Ramazani, Iran's Foreign Policy, 303–8.

16 Memorandum of Conversation, July 1, 1958, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 242. In fact, these developments had pleasantly surprised Khrushchev. See Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali, Khrushchev's Cold War: The Inside Story of an American Adversary (New York, 2006), 158–84.

17 Col. Gratian Yatsevitch in an interview with William Burr, Camden, Maine, November 5, 1988, Foundation for Iranian Studies Oral History Collection (FISOHC), Tape 1.

18 Amir Khosrow Afshar in an interview with Habib Ladjevardi, London, October 15, 1985, Harvard Iranian Oral History Project (HIOHP), Tape 1. Iraq formally withdrew from the Baghdad Pact in March 1959. The alliance was renamed the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and its headquarters moved to Ankara.

19 Stevens to Lloyd, August 21, 1958, PREM 11/3397.

20 See Shlaim, Avi, “Israel, the Great Powers, and the Middle East Crisis of 1958,” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 27, no. 2 (1999): 177–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Yeşilbursa, Baghdad Pact, 211.

22 Harrison to Hiller, August 24, 1961, FO 371/157618.

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26 Internal Intelligence Report, November 17, 1959 [25 Aban 1338], Seyed Zia al-Din Tabatabai be ravayat-e asnad-e SAVAK [Seyed Zia al-Din Tabataba'i according to SAVAK documents] (Tehran, 1380 [2001]), 128. SAVAK was the acronym for Iran's Sazman-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar (National Intelligence and Security Organization).

27 For Seyed Zia's account see “Enclosure 1: Record of Conversation, 19 June 1961” attached to Harrison to Hiller, August 24, 1961, FO 371/157618.

28 Tehran 34 to the FO, January 17, 1956, FO 371/120717.

29 Washington 9 to the FO, January 3, 1959, FO 371/140797; Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801.

30 Amir Khosrow Afshar in an interview with Habib Ladjevardi, London, October 15, 1985, HIOHP, Tape 2.

31 Abdol-Hoseyn Masud Ansari, Khatirat-e siyasi va ijtimai: Mururi bar panjah sal tarikh [Political and social memoirs: A review of fifty years of history] (Tehran, 1374 [1995]), 778–9, 836–7.

32 Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801; “Statement by Mr. Semyonov to the Persian Government regarding Soviet–Persian relations,” February 10, 1959, Documents on International Affairs, 1959, ed. Gillian King (London, 1963), 328.

33 Ramazani, Iran's Foreign Policy, 299.

34 Tehran 10 to the FO, January 3, 1959, FO 371/140797; State 1774 to Tehran, January 16, 1959, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 260.

35 Tehran 10 to the FO, January 3, 1959, FO 371/140797.

36 Tehran 11 to the FO, January 3, 1959, FO 371/140797.

37 State 1774 to Tehran, January 16, 1959, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 260.

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39 In fact, it had been Ambassador Ansari's father, Ali Quli Khan Ansari (Moshaver al-Mamalek), who negotiated and signed the treaty in Moscow with Georgy Chicherin. See Firuz Kazemzadeh, “Iranian Relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921,” in Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 7: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic, ed. Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly, and Charles Melville (Cambridge, 1991), 347.

40 Lenczowski, Russia and the West, 318.

41 See Ramazani, Rouhollah K., “Treaty Relations: An Iranian–Soviet Case Study,” in The Search for World Order: Studies by Students and Colleagues of Quincy Wright, eds. Lepawsky, Albert, Buehrig, Edward H., and Lasswell, Harold D. (New York, 1974), 298–311Google Scholar.

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43 Central Intelligence Bulletin (CIB), January 21, 1959, US Central Intelligence Agency Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room (CIA-FOIA), http://www.foia.cia.gov/.

44 Retired CIA officer in correspondence with the author, December 27, 2012; Col. Gratian Yatsevitch in an interview with William Burr, Camden, Maine, November 5, 1988, FISOHC, Tape 1.

45 Editorial Note, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 261.

46 On the Karachi meeting see Yeşilbursa, Baghdad Pact, 212–15.

47 Karachi 208 to the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO), January 26, 1959, FO 371/140797. After leaving Tehran in 1958, Stevens was appointed deputy under-secretary at the Foreign Office.

48 Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801.

49 CIB, January 28, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

50 See Mansoureh Ettehadieh, Dar dehlizhay-e qodrat: Zendegy nameh-ye siyasi-ye Hoseyn Ala [In the corridors of power: A political biography of Hoseyn Ala] (Tehran, 1390 [2011]).

51 See Denis Wright, “The Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Iran, December 1953,” in Anglo-Iranian Relations since 1800, ed. Vanessa Martin (London, 2005), 161–6.

52 Denis Wright, “The Memoirs of Sir Denis Wright 1911–1971 in Two Volumes,” vol. II, unpublished manuscript, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 314.

53 Milani, Shah, 227.

54 Tehran 95 to the FO, January 28, 1959, FO 371/140797.

55 Tehran 94 to the FO, January 28, 1959, FO 371/140797.

56 Tehran 95 to the FO, January 28, 1959, FO 371/140797.

57 CIB, January 30, 1959, CIA-FOIA. The British Embassy mistakenly thought that the Soviet delegation had arrived in Tehran on January 27. See Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801. For more on Semyonov, including his criticism of Soviet policy towards Mosaddeq, see Artemy Kalinovsky, “The Soviet Union and Mosaddeq: A Research Note,” in this issue of Iranian Studies.

58 FO 202 to Tehran, January 28, 1959, FO 371/140797.

59 Tehran 100 to the FO, January 29, 1959, FO 371/140797.

60 Wright to Harrison, January 30, 1959, FO 371/140799.

61 Wright, “Memoirs of Sir Denis,” 316.

62 Stevens to Sandys, January 30, 1959, FO 371/140798.

63 Karachi (unnumbered) to the FO, January 30, 1959, FO 371/140797.

64 Tehran 109 to the FO, January 31, 1959, FO 371/140797.

65 Tehran 103 to the FO, January 30, 1959, FO 371/140797.

66 Ankara 169 to the FO, January 30, 1959, FO 371/140797.

67 Ankara 179 to the FO, February 2, 1959, FO 371/140797; CIB, February 3, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

68 Retired CIA officer in correspondence with the author, December 27, 1912; Col. Gratian Yatsevitch in an interview with William Burr, Camden, Maine, November 5, 1988, FISOHC, Tape 1.

69 Special National Intelligence Estimate 34-2-59, February 3, 1959, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 265.

70 Tehran 1425 to State, January 30, 1959, DDE: Papers as President, 1953–61 (Ann Whitman File), International Series, Box 31, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library (DDEL), Abilene, Kansas.

71 Washington 263 to the FO, January 29, 1959, FO 371/140797.

72 Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801; Tehran 169 to the FO, February 13, 1959, FO 371/140799.

73 “Statement by Mr. Semyonov,” 329.

74 “Statement in the Persian Senate by Mr. Ali Hekmat regarding the breakdown of negotiations with the Soviet Union, Tehran, 14 February 1959,” Documents on International Affairs, 1959, ed. Gillian King (London, 1963), 338.

75 Amir Khosrow Afshar in an interview with Habib Ladjevardi, London, October 15, 1985, HIOHP, Tape 2.

76 Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801.

77 Tehran 108 to the FO, January 31, 1959, FO 371/140797.

78 State 1944 to Tehran, January 30, 1959, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 263.

79 Telephone call to the President, 12.27pm, January 30, 1959, Papers of John Foster Dulles, Telephone Call Series, Box 9, DDEL.

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81 Wright, “Memoirs of Sir Denis,” 317–18.

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83 Tehran 110 to the FO, February 1, 1959, FO 371/140797.

84 Sandys to Macmillan, February 4, 1959, PREM 11/3397.

85 Tehran 118 to the FO, February 3, 1959, PREM 11/3397. Hekmat delivered the same message to Wailes. See CIB, February 4, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

86 Russell to Harrison, February 3, 1959, FO 371/140799.

87 Tehran 126 to the FO, February 4, 1959, FO 371/140798.

88 Tehran 132 to the FO, February 4, 1959, FO 371/140798.

89 FO 279 to Tehran, February 6, 1959, PREM 11/3397.

90 Washington 353 to the FO, February 6, 1959, FO 371/140798.

91 Tehran 140 to the FO, February 7, 1959, PREM 11/3397.

92 Tehran 143 to the FO, February 7, 1959, PREM 11/3397; Rountree to J.F. Dulles, February 9, 1959, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 266; CIB, February 9, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

93 FO 900 to Washington, February 8, 1959, PREM 11/3397.

94 Tehran 144 to the FO, February 8, 1959, FO 371/140798.

95 Tehran 149 to the FO, February 9, 1959, FO 371/140799.

96 Tehran 157 to the FO, February 11, 1959, PREM 11/3397; Editorial Note, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 267; CIB, February 12, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

97 “Statement by Mr. Semyonov,” 327–36.

98 Moscow 256 to the FO, February 14, 1959, and attachment, FO 371/140799.

99 Tehran G-167 to State, February 16, 1959, White House Office, Office of the Staff Secretary: Records, 1952–61, International Series, Box 8, DDEL.

100 Soviet News, No. 4008, February 18, 1959, FO 371/140800.

101 Tehran 183 to the FO, February 17, 1959, FO 371/140800.

102 Tehran 1621 to State, February 24, 1959, White House Office, Office of the Staff Secretary: Records, 1952–61, International Series, Box 8, DDEL.

103 Tehran 201 to FO, February 23, 1959; Tehran 192 to the FO, February 20, 1959; FO 356 to Tehran, February 21, 1959, PREM 11/3397; CIB, February 24, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

104 “Statement in the Persian Senate,” 336–40.

105 Minute by David T. West, February 21, 1959, FO 371/140800.

106 Tehran 80-86 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 23, 1959, Documents Diplomatiques Français, 1959, Tome 1 (Paris, 1994), Document 108.

107 US Department of State, “Agreement of Cooperation Between the Government of the United States of America and the Imperial Government of Iran,” United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, vol. 10, part 1, 1959 (Washington, 1960), 314–16. The United States simultaneously signed identical agreements with Pakistan and Turkey.

108 Tehran 15 to the FO, April 11, 1959, FO 371/140801.

109 Carless to West, July 10, 1959, FO 371/140804; CIB, April 30, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

110 Hiller for Stevens, July 9, 1959, FO 371/140803.

111 Harrison to Lloyd, April 23, 1959, FO 371/140802.

112 Harrison to Lloyd, February 3, 1960, FO 371/149754.

113 Alvandi, Roham, “The Shah's Détente with Khrushchev: Iran's 1962 Missile Base Pledge to the Soviet Union,” Cold War History (forthcoming 2014)Google Scholar.

114 Dixon to Stevens, March 6, 1959, FO 371/140801.

115 “Record of a Conversation with the Imam Jomeh,” February 24, 1959, FO 371/140800. See also the entry for “Sayyed Hasan Emami” in Encyclopaedia Iranica, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/emami-sayyed-hasan.

116 “Record of Conversation between the Secretary of State and Mr. Hekmat on May 6, 1959,” May 8, 1959, FO 371/140802.

117 Wright, “Memoirs of Sir Denis,” 319.

118 Internal Intelligence Report, 5 Ordibehesht 1338 [April 26, 1959], Asnad-e SAVAK, 98. Similar reports were reaching the CIA. See CIB, July 6, 1959, CIA-FOIA.

119 Internal Intelligence Report, 18 Mordad 1338 [August 10, 1959], Asnad-e SAVAK, 115.

120 Tehran 57 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 12, 1959, Documents Diplomatiques Français, 1959, Tome 1 (Paris, 1994), Document 88.

121 Harrison to Stevens, July 2, 1959, FO 371/140803.

122 “Enclosure 1: Record of Conversation, 19 June 1961,” attached to Harrison to Hiller, August 24, 1961, FO 371/157618.

123 On the shah's conspiratorial views about Britain see Wright, “Memoirs of Sir Denis,” 385–8.

124 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Mission for My Country (London, 1961), 122.

125 Minutes of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, June 28, 1957, Cold War International History Project Bulletin 10 (1998), 59.

126 Tehran 55 to the FO, March 26, 1959, FO 371/140801.

127 Memorandum of Conversation, December 14, 1959, FRUS 1958–1960, XII, Doc. 281.

128 See Alvandi, Roham, “Nixon, Kissinger and the Shah: The Origins of Iranian Primacy in the Persian Gulf,” Diplomatic History 36, no. 2 (2012): 337–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Johns, Andrew, “The Johnson Administration, the Shah of Iran, and the Changing Pattern of U.S.–Iranian Relations, 1965–1967: ‘tired of being treated like a schoolboy’,” Journal of Cold War Studies 9, no. 2 (2007): 64–94Google Scholar.