August 15, 1956 — Port Huron Times Herald
| The Mossadegh Project | February 25, 2026 |
Lead editorial in The Port Huron Times Herald newspaper (Port Huron, Michigan).
Nasser And Mossadegh
Mohammed Mossadegh, former Premier—a weepy Premier—of Iran, who defied the British and lost, has been released from prison in Tehran, where he served three years for treason against the Shah of Iran.
His treason consisted in nationalization of the
Anglo-Iranian Oil company properties — a grab which killed the goose
that laid the golden eggs for the Shah.
Because Mossadegh could not find anybody to operate the big oil plant, operation was suspended and the millions that rolled from it into treasury of the Shah quit rolling — and the once rich nation of Iran became bankrupt.
The weepy Mossadegh bit off more than he could chew.
And Gamal Abdel Nasser, Premier of Egypt, could be doing the same thing in his seizure of the Suez Canal.
Already there is talk of reviving plans to dig a new canal through Palestine to connect the Mediterranean and Red seas.
And the Sinclair Oil company is using a new 58,000-ton super tanker to carry oil around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Canal — it carries 403,000 barrels of oil from the Near East to a Delaware port in 33 days.
This big tanker cannot use the Canal when fully loaded because the Canal cannot be navigated by ships which draw more than 35 feet of water.
By using the long route — believe it or not — the Sinclair company saves 12 cents a barrel on transportation charges.
The arbitrary, smart-aleck action of Premier Nasser might backfire, just as did the arbitrary, smart-aleck action of
Mossadegh.
In these days, nothing in transportation is permanent.
Oil could be freighted through a new canal — and that would make the seizure of Suez a futile action.
Oil can be freighted around the Cape of Good Hope — and it is being freighted around the Cape of Good Hope — economically.
Oil could be freighted by huge air tankers from the Near East to wherever it is needed.
Because the Suez Canal has served so many years as the only conecting link on a short route to and from the East is no reason why it should continue to be the only such connecting link.
Mr. Nasser may find that out eventually—the hard way—just as Mr. Mossadegh found out that the world could get along without Iranian oil.
Related links:
Nasser and Mossadegh | The Kansas City Times, August 4, 1956
Better Outlook In Egypt | The Arizona Republic, July 25, 1952
Nasser Asks for Trouble | Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sept. 9, 1956
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
