Blind To Reason
October 3, 1951 — The Advertiser
October 3, 1951 — The Advertiser
| The Mossadegh Project | May 8, 2020 |
The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia) editorial on Iran. The newspaper closed in 1954.
ON SUICIDE BENT
It seems vain to hope that, at the eleventh hour, the Persian Government will accept the Security Council’s mediation in the oil dispute. In recent discussions, Dr. Mossadeq and his more extreme followers have been so blind to reason and justice, that it would be over-optimistic to expect them to show a sense of realism and fairness now. [Mossadegh decided to attend the UN hearings to condemn the British for their malign history in Iran and to argue that the Security Council lacked jurisdiction in the dispute.]Only one thing could perhaps produce a change of heart in Tehran — a belated awakening by the Government to the fact that it is indeed perilously far advanced along a “suicidal” path. Few people doubt Persia’s ability to find, at home or abroad, technicians capable of running the Abadan refinery. And countries willing to buy oil can doubtless be found. But as Persia has virtually no tankers or other means of delivery, it is impossible for her to maintain anything remotely resembling the present annual export of some 30m. tons of oil.
Extremists in Tehran doubtless cling to the hope that other countries, including Britain, so desperately need oil, that they will take all the necessary steps to buy it from Persia. But the putting off of supplies of Persian oil has given a tremendous stimulus to production and refining operations elsewhere.
Britain is a vigorous participant in several of these expansion projects. Apart from domestic plans, including the newly-opened refinery at Fawley [Hampshire, England] — the largest in Europe — Britain is aiding developmental programmes in Burma and Iraq. In Canada, the exploitation of rich deposits promises to make that Dominion an increasingly important supplier of oil. Australia’s own dependence on imports of refined oil will eventually be reduced as a result of plans, announced within the past three months, to build three large refineries here.
Markets once lost are not always easily regained, even if access to them be reasonably free. Persia lacks the facilities to recapture unaided those that have nourished her economy.
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Related links:
Dr. Mossadeq Carries On | The Advertiser, July 8, 1952
Eleventh-Hour Resort To UN In Oil Crisis | Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 1, 1951
Crisis looms in Persia | The News (Adelaide), Sept. 28, 1951
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
