THE great game of pressure that the Iranian oil crisis has become is being carried on in earnest currently with no odds being given on which of the participants in the round-robin will crack first.

Secretary of State Dean Acheson has been closeted with British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden in an effort to get the British to agree to an “arrangement” between American oil interests and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. to start Iran’s oil flowing again. In the meantime he is reportedly making an offer of $100 million in emergency aid to restore Iran’s bankrupt economy and set a more cordial stage for negotiations between Iran and Britain.

On the British side, Anglo-Iranian is resisting any effort on the part of Americans to get in on the Iranian production. They have threatened legal action against any producer who steps in before the dispute is settled.

On the Iranian side, Premier Mossadegh’s right-handman, Hussein Makki, who made an unsuccessful trip to the U.S. to line up American producers, has charged that Secretary Acheson is merely acting under the orders of a world oil cartel and is insincere in his talk of helping Iran. [Majles deputy Hossein Makki]

There is undoubtedly pressure from the White House, too, to get something positive done in foreign policy before the Truman administration has to step out.

All these pressures aren’t creating a very friendly climate for resolving the crisis. There are reasonable grounds to fear that the incoming administration might inherit an even worse situation than now. [Eisenhower] The worst pressure, of course, and the pressure that makes the affair so critical, is coming from the strong Communist party in Iran and the rapidly weakening government. A cabinet crisis could mean a Communist seizure, which would leave everyone else with lots of principle and the Reds with Iran’s oil.