Mr. W. Averell Harriman was appointed a special assistant to the President, [Harry Truman] with particular responsibility for foreign affairs, a little over a year ago, in June of 1950. It was, and still is, a post of major importance. Mr. Harriman has had the dual task of co-ordinating foreign affairs for the President and serving as trouble shooter in critical emergencies. Now he is off to Iran, to have a shot at the second-biggest trouble in the international situation today. His departure raises a little — but not too much — hope.

In his job as coordinator, Mr. Harriman has necessarily worked with little public notice. He has, presumably, straightened put jurisdictional squabbles, kept the President in closer touch with his foreign-affairs agencies and in turn kept those agencies in closer touch with the President. It is hardly surprising that this part of his confidential work has not been publicized. There is relatively little information even on his biggest job in that field, revamping the National Security Council — the top strategy-planning group — and the National Security Resources Board, the policymaking agency in the field of mobilization.

In his capacity as trouble shooter, he has taken on two major tasks. One was the hurried trip to the Far East last August to attempt to clarify with General MacArthur the question of who was boss. [Douglas A. MacArthur] His success that time was, at best, a temporary one. His other job was extracurricular in nature. He was detailed to lambaste Senator Taft in last fall’s Ohio campaign. [Robert Taft] His success in that one was even less than temporary.

Whether his present mission will prove as difficult as the other two, only the next week, will reveal. The fact that Dr. Mossadegh has agreed to receive a special presidential representative is in itself encouraging after the fairly violent denunciations that have been made of the World Court and other “outside” intervention in the Anglo-Iranian dispute. And the last two weeks have seen an obvious reluctance on the part of both Britain and Iran to precipitate the final crisis in the oil fields.

Iran has not actually attempted the almost-impossible task of taking over and running the oil fields with inadequate technical help, and Britain, which announced its intention of pulling out completely, has taken another look and decided to wait a bit. Under the circumstances, the situation is a little more propitious for the Harriman trip than it was two weeks, ago. Not much, but a little.