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February 20, 1956 — The Spokesman-Review


The Mossadegh Project | March 21, 2019                  


An editorial on Iran in a Spokane, Washington newspaper.

Iran Oil Consortium | Archive (1953-1954)




West’s Iran Problem Has Been Cleared Up

A year ago the wreckage of Iran’s great oil industry was being repaired. The political wreckage was straightened out by the returned Shah and the Abadan refinery and other operations which formally supported the nation are being reactivated by a new foreign company. [run-on sentence] In place of the old Anglo-Iranian combine a partnership of Britain United States, France and The Netherlands took over. [The Iran Oil Consortium of 1954]

After a year of this operation it is reported that everyone is quite happy. Production of Iranian oil is now one-third of capacity and will be two-thirds by the end of the of next year. The new operators have sunk about $50,000,000 in research, exploration of new fields and capital outlay to make their business more profitable in the future. They have given Iran $100,000,000 in profits, where the country got nothing during the three years of stagnation after the British were driven out.

The only uneasiness is in Iran’s government, where the income has not yet reached a size that will balance the budget, and Iranian politicians feel they cannot tell their people that the new arrangement does anything less than to fully support the country. But that is a small matter that can, and will, be arranged by borrowing against profits that are sure to come.

The net result of the new regime is an ending of the Iranian problem as the west knew it in those turbulent years of Premier Mossadegh’s rule and communist influence. Iran has been saved from the Soviet union and should provide no more cause for western concern.


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

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Related links:

Hague Considers Iran Oil Question | The Spokesman-Review, June 23, 1952

Mossadegh’s Ghost | Leter to The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sept. 14, 1956

Iran Oil Dispute Ends | The San Bernardino County Sun, August 9, 1954



MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”

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