Though the assassination of the Iranian Premier, Ali Razmara, still appears, on its face, to have been the independent act of a small group of religious fanatics, the Communists have not been slow to take advantage of the tension created. Yesterday saw in Tehran large-scale demonstrations against the United States and in favor of immediate nationalization of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. For two and a half hours our Ambassador, Henry F. Grady, heard crowds of Leftists screaming anti-American slogans in front of the Embassy.

It did not need the police reports to tell that all this was Communist-inspired. The demonstration was organized by the supporters of the Communist - engineered “Stockholm Peace Petition.” Perhaps an ominous connection with the assassination can be found in the fact that Razmara’s murderers were already on record as denouncing him for his opposition to nationalization of the oil industry.

The movement to nationalize the oil industry, which means the giant Anglo-Iranian Company, is Communist - directed and has been actively promoted by Moscow. An essential part of the scheme is in Kremlin pressure on the Iranian government to take on Russian advisers for the industry. The import of this is clear: If Iran can be sandbagged into nationalizing the industry and Russians put in control, Moscow might take over Iranian petroleum by simpler means than military conquest. The peril of this to Western interests is equally clear: With Russians in control of the industry — the biggest thing financially in Iran — Communists would be infiltrated everywhere, a short step to Communist infiltration and eventual control of the government and the country.

The danger has now become very great. A parliamentary committee has already — unanimously, it is said — approved nationalization in principle, though asking Parliament to give it another two months to work out details. The demonstrations yesterday were evidently in hope of creating a wave that would put the scheme over immediately. We still cannot rule out the possibility that the assassination of Razmara was to get out of the way the strongest opponent of this Russian design.

Editor—in the editorial "Danger in Teheran" you state “the movement to nationalize the oil industry is Communist-directed.” What is more natural than that the people of Iran should want the profits from their oil industry to benefit their own community rather than foreign interests? Would we allow other countries to exploit our resources? Certainly not. Why, then, should Iran permit foreigners to take huge profits from their country that properly belong to that poverty-stricken land? Let us be realistic and not condemn every reform movement as Communist-inspired, when obviously we would do likewise in a similar situation.

JNO. RAMSAY.
Berkeley.