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In Search of “Equitability”: Sir John Cadman, Rezā Shah and the Cancellation of the D’Arcy Concession, 1928‒33

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Gregory Brew
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Abstract

From 1928 to 1932 the Pahlavi regime of Iran negotiated with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) to revise the D’Arcy Concession. These negotiations, conducted by ‘Abd al-Hosayn Teymurtāsh and the chairman of APOC Sir John Cadman, ended in failure when Rezā Shah unilaterally cancelled the D’Arcy Concession in November 1932. This article argues that “equitability” was the goal of the negotiations. An agreement was ultimately impossible to reach, due to differing ideas on either side regarding what was equitable, changes in the international oil economy and instability within Iran itself, leading to an unequal agreement in April 1933 that confirmed APOC’s long-term security but served only the short-term needs of Iran.

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Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 125 - 148
Copyright
© 2016 Association For Iranian Studies, Inc

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Footnotes

*

Funding for this research was provided by the Evan Armstrong North Graduate Research Award from Georgetown University. I would like to thank Peter Housego and the staff of the BP Archive, as well as David S. Painter at Georgetown University for his comments and advice. Specials thanks to the editors of Iranian Studies for their tireless assistance, and to the two anonymous peer reviewers, whose excellent comments and suggestions immeasurably improved initial drafts of this essay.

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