Christmas Day, 1953: Denis Wright (1911-2005), the new British Charge d’Affaires, had been in Iran for only five days when two men purporting to be representatives of the Shah handed him a highly unorthodox directive on his behalf.

All “matters of high policy”, read the typed paper, must go directly through themselves only. The emissaries in question were:

1) Bahram Shahrokh, Director General of Propaganda, best known as the voice behind pro-Nazi propaganda broadcasts from Iran during World War II.

2) Ernest Perron, the Shah’s gay Swiss courtier/liason and close friend since childhood, who also lived in the royal palace.

Wright was arriving at a pivotal moment in Iran. In late summer, the government of Premier Mohammad Mossadegh, which broke relations with England in 1952, had been overthrown with British and American help. Now, Iran refused to accept any former British diplomats, only new blood.

Wright’s mission in Iran, as he put it, was to “establish good relations with the Persian authorities, assess the possibility of an oil settlement, prepare the way for an ambassador, and maintain a united front with the American embassy.” The last thing he needed was to be dropped into the middle of drama and palace intrigue.

It all began shortly after landing in Tehran on Dec. 21st. En route to the embassy, Wright learned from the Swiss envoy, Alfred Escher, that the Shah had arranged for him to meet Shahrokh and Perron for dinner the following evening. Though this was highly irregular, Wright reluctantly went along with it, sensing he had little alternative.

Shahrokh, who did all the talking, ended up probing Wright about an oil settlement they “seemed to think I carried in my back pocket” and insisted on a non-interference pledge from Britain. He tried to get him to criticize the new Premier, Fazlollah Zahedi, whom the Shah was considering dismissing. He also asked if Britain would object if the Shah sacked his Court Minister, Hossein Ala. This request, per Wright, “took my breath away”.

The pair approached Wright again on Dec. 25th—twice. The second time, at a Christmas party at his residence, they returned with the curious paper instructing Wright to break protocol.

Wright firmly objected to this attempt by the Shah to secretly go behind the backs of his Foreign Minister and Prime Minister. Compelled to notify the Foreign Office the next morning, he also gave word to Foreign Minister Abdollah Entezam, whom he took an instant liking to, and Premier Fazlollah Zahedi, whom London was still backing despite the Shah’s aversion toward him.

“I doubt whether the Shahinshah — the King of Kings — had ever had a brush off like this before”, Wright later recalled. Siding with Wright, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden noted in a cabinet memo that the Shah’s behavior, as usual, did not “do him much credit”.

When the Shah learned of this snub, he became “furious” with Wright and refused to meet with him. In fact, even U.S. Ambassador Loy Henderson was in hot water with the Shah, who wrongly assumed he played some part in the leak.

Henderson reported back to the State Dept. that during their Jan. 14, 1954 meeting, the Shah “displayed considerable venom” toward Zahedi:

• [Annotations by Arash Norouzi. Comments by Denis Wright while reading the paper aloud in 1984 are preceded by his name.]

• Audio source below: Interview with Sir Denis Wright by Habib Ladjevardi for the Iranian Oral History Project at Harvard University, October 10, 1984. Tape 1 is cued to begin with Wright telling of his first steps in Iran and reading the bout de papier, which continues on Tape 2.

Other sources:

• Britain and Iran 1790-1980: Collected Essays of Sir Denis Wright (2003)

• Denis Wright’s contribution to Travellers’ Tales (1999), “On Resuming Diplomatic Relations with Persia”.

• Denis Wright’s contribution to Anglo-Iranian Relations Since 1800 (2005), “Restoration of Diplomatic Relations”.

Divvying Up the Loot: The Iran Oil Consortium Agreement of 1954