Real Mischief
September 14, 1951 — The Recorder
September 14, 1951 — The Recorder
| The Mossadegh Project | September 11, 2020 |
Shameless Cold War rumor-mongering in this lead and sole editorial in The Recorder, a newspaper serving “Port Pirie: South Australia’s Largest Town”.
• Australian media archive
PERSIA—PUSHING OR BEING PUSHED?
SEVERAL months have passed since the Persian Government issued its order to Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to get out of the country and leave behind it all the wealth it had sunk in developing the oil fields. And still the argument goes on. Dr. Mossadeq, who does not seem to be a very robust type of unraveller of international problems, has gone as far as tears in his efforts to justify an intangible something that is and has been for long gnawing at the vitals of his country.Conference after conference has failed lamentably, and the latest move made by the lugubrious Prime Minister is to forward through an American third party, Mr. Harriman, what may be deemed to be his final demand in the dispute. [Averell Harriman] And so the business drags on and on.
Foundation of the dispute must not be lost to sight in the maze of negotiations. There can be no doubt that the public clamor to dispossess the Anglo-Iranian Company was incited by Russian agents. Persia, one of the weakest countries on earth, could not reasonably be expected to become arrogant unless either backed or blackmailed by some country of real power, and the only such interested country is Russia.
IT might have been expected that Moscow, having had her machinations frustrated in turn in Europe and Asia, would eventually direct her thoughts to the Middle East, where so much of the world’s precious oil is produced. It was a wonderful opportunity for real mischief, for nothing is more essential for the security of the United Nations than the oil of Iran.
Thus, if Russia could press Persia to force Britain to the point of defending in practical manner the investment she wisely started many years ago, and then intervene on the score of “protecting” Persia’s interests, the convincing ground would be an ideal one for the Reds. Korea was made one catspaw to keep the United Nations busy, and Persia may yet prove an even more admirable one.
Incidentally, amazing though it may seem, the Persian oil dispute can have a much more significant bearing on Australia’s future than, say, two colored gentlemen slugging for the world middleweight championship in U.S.A. But few here regard it that way. [On Sept. 12, middleweight Sugar Ray Robinson won back his championship belt by defeating Randy Turpin in NYC]
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Related links:
Mad juggler of Persia | The News, September 1, 1952
Eden’s Task In The Oil Deadlock | Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 31, 1951
Moslem Lands Must Recognize Dangers Posed by Extremists | Bruce Biossat, Aug. 30, 1951
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
