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Treating His Imperial Majesty's Warts: British Policy towards Iran 1977–79

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Edward Posnett
Edward Posnett*
Affiliation:
Christ Church, Oxford, in 2010
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Abstract

Analysis of British policy towards Iran during the shah's final years has tended to be the preserve of those who formulated it. In general, it has focused on the extent to which British policymakers predicted the events of the Iranian revolution (published accounts by British policymakers include: Anthony Parsons, The Pride and The Fall: Iran 1974–1979 (1984); David Owen, Time to Declare (1991); Ivor Lucas, A Road To Damascus: Mainly Diplomatic Memoirs from the Middle East (1997), and “Revisiting the Decline and Fall of the Shah of Iran” (2009)). This article is different in both its sources and scope. Unlike any other published study on Anglo-Iranian relations, it relies on government records recently released in the National Archives. Instead of focusing on the British response to the Iranian revolution, it seeks to account for the strength of the shah's leverage and illustrate its consequences during one of the most important periods in Iran's history.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 119 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2012

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Footnotes

This article was the joint winner of the Middle East Centre's Azizeh-Sheibani Prize. The author is greatly indebted to his former supervisor, Stephanie Cronin, for her guidance and support.

References

1 Lucas, Ivor, “Revisiting the Decline and Fall of the Shah of Iran,” Asian Affairs, xl (2009): 418–24 (423).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 The National Archives (henceforth TNA): FCO 26/1942, Diplomatic Report No. 157/78, 12 April 1978.

3 TNA: FCO 26/1942, Diplomatic Report No. 157/78, 12 April 1978.

4 Bill, James, The Eagle and The Lion: The Tragedy of American–Iranian Relations (New York, 1988), 197–98.Google Scholar

5 Bill, The Eagle and The Lion, 198.

6 Saikal, A., “Iranian Foreign Policy, 1921–1979,” The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 7, From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic (Cambridge, 1991), 443.Google Scholar

7 Saikal, “Iranian Foreign Policy,” 455.

8 Gasiorowski, Mark, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran (New York, 1991), 100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9 TNA: FCO 8/3185, I. Lucas to F. Judd, 13 September 1978.

10 TNA: FCO 8/2998, UK Trade with Iran, I. Lucas to D. Owen/M. Weir, undated.

11 Lucas, “Revisiting the Decline,” 422.

12 Bill, The Eagle, 202.

13 Bill, The Eagle.

14 Bill, The Eagle.

15 TNA: FCO 8/3189, D. Tatham to I. Lucas, 8 December 1978.

16 In 1977, the government made the following employment estimates: “2,700 people in the Stoke (Coventry) works are employed largely on the Iranian contract which accounts for 20% of Chrysler's total output of 50% of their exports”; “Vickers: Armoured recovery vehicles—1000 jobs”; “The Iranian Military Industrial Complex: 12,000 new jobs over 3 years”; “The Chieftain contract for the sale of over 1300 tanks, maintenance and provision of spares: 6,000 employed directly at the Royal Ordnance Factory in Leeds, with more than 2,000 separate subcontracting firms throughout the UK” (TNA: FCO 8/2998, UK Trade with Iran, I. Lucas to D. Owen/M. Weir, undated).

17 TNA: FCO 8/3189, D. Tatham to I. Lucas, 8 December 1978.

18 TNA: FCO 8/2998, UK Trade with Iran, I. Lucas to D. Owen/M. Weir, undated.

19 When the British demurred on supplying CS gas to the shah in 1978, he complained, “if our friends can't help us to whom can we turn” (TNA: FCO 8/3131, S. Lecky to R. Ellis, 14 May 1978).

20 TNA: FCO 8/3185, I. Lucas to F. Judd, 13 September 1978.

21 TNA: FCO 8/3185, I. Lucas to F. Judd, 13 September 1978.

22 TNA: FCO 8/2998, UK Trade with Iran, I. Lucas to D. Owen/M. Weir, undated.

27 TNA: FCO 8/2980, A. Parsons, “Is the Emperor Fully Clothed?,” 12 April 1977.

23 TNA: FCO 8/3212, A. Parsons to FCO, 2 February 1978.

24 TNA: FCO 26/1942, Diplomatic Report No. 157/78, 12 April 1978.

25 Fatemi, K., “Leadership by Distrust: The Shah's Modus Operandi,” Middle East Journal, xxxvi (1982): 48–61.Google Scholar

26 TNA: FCO 8/2997, Human Rights in Foreign Policy, M. Weir, 31 January 1977.

28 See Pahlavi, Mohammed Reza, The Shah's Story, trans. Waugh, T. (London, 1980).Google Scholar

29 TNA: FCO 8/3210, A. Parsons to H of C, 9 April 1978.

30 TNA: FCO 8/3132, S. Lecky to FCO, 11 October 1978.

31 TNA: FCO 8/3212, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 24 January 1978.

32 TNA: FCO 8/3212, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 24 January 1978.

33 Bill, The Eagle, 209. See also Ramazani, Ruhollah, The United States and Iran: The Patterns of Influence (New York, 1985), 50.Google Scholar

34 TNA: DEFE 23/198, M. Palliser to Secretary of State, 13 February 1978.

35 TNA: DEFE 23/198, M. Palliser to Secretary of State, 13 February 1978. See also Alam, Amir Asadollah, The Shah and I: The Confidential Diary of Iran's Royal Court, 1969–1977, trans. Alikhani, A. and Vincent, N. (London, 1991), 56.Google Scholar

36 Of Reporter's connections, Sir Denis Wright wrote that he was friends with Lord Stokes and Marcus Sieff and was “well known” to Victor Rothschild (TNA: DEFE 13/1176, D. Wright to L. Suffield, 25 November 1970).

37 TNA: DEFE 23/198, C. Pincher, Daily Express, 10 November 1977; TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 20 November 1977; TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 20 November 1977.

38 TNA: DEFE 13/1176, J. Street to Minister of State and others, Draft Minute, 24 October 1977.

39 TNA: DEFE 23/198, R. Ellis to PUS, 16 March 1978.

40 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 20 November 1977.

41 Both Parsons and the former head of Defence Sales, Sir Lester Suffield, believed that the final recipient of MTS's payments to Reporter was the shah himself (TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 14 November 1977).

42 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 14 November 1977: “the endowment of the Chair of Persian Studies at St Antony's, the provision of ammunition for the armed services when they had exceeded their budgetary allocation, the donation of the New Library at LSE, the purchases of equipment from West Germany for eventual use by Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War etc.”

43 Owen, David, Time to Declare (London, 1991), 392.Google Scholar For a study of the activities of the Pahlavi Foundation, see Graham, Robert, Iran: The Illusion of Power (London, 1978).Google Scholar

44 Phythian, Mark, The Politics of British Arms Sales Since 1964: ‘To Secure our Rightful Share’ (Manchester, 2000), 89.Google Scholar

45 TNA: DEFE 13/1176, D. Wright to L. Suffield, 25 November 1970.

46 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to M. Weir 14 November 1977.

47 TNA: DEFE 23/217, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 15 January 1978.

48 TNA: DEFE 23/217, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 25 January 1978.

49 TNA: DEFE 23/217, handwritten note DUS (PMS), 26 January 1978.

50 TNA: DEFE 23/198, J. Howe to AUS, 8 February 1978.

51 See below, n. 61.

52 TNA: DEFE 23/217, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 16 December 1977.

53 Phythian, The Politics, 88.

54 Phythian, The Politics.

55 TNA: DEFE 24/1691, Statement From Dock By Defendant Randel in Regina v Geoffrey Elliot Wellburn, Frank Percival Nurdin, and David Arthur Charles Randel, 21/22 December 1977.

56 Randel had written a letter to his commanding officer making a thinly veiled threat to reveal the DSO's use of bribery in Kuwait and Iran (TNA: FCO 8/2867, D. Randel to P. Webb, 9 May 1977).

57 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, R. Ellis (Assistant Treasury Solicitor) to I. Macleod, 16 November 1977.

58 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, Report of Nurdin's Opening Statement, D. Owen to MOD, 7 November 1977.

59 TNA: DEFE 24/1691, B. Hall to F. Cooper, 11 November 1977.

60 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, Record of Nurdin's Opening Statement, 21/22 December 1977.

61 For example, Nurdin's defense requested information from MTS which would reveal whether the commissions had increased the price of the overall contract to the Iranians, or if the cost had been borne by the British. MTS, however, did not provide a complete breakdown of their costs that went to make up the eventual price to the Iranians (DEFE 24/1690, R. Anderson to PS/S of S, 21 November 1977).

62 For example, MTS used the services of Ali Reza as an agent in Kuwait and had knowledge that he was using his commissions for corrupt purposes. (TNA: DEFE, 24/1690, B. Hall to P. Palmes, 31 October 1977).

63 Wright wrote that Reporter's advice was colored by financial self-interest (TNA: DEFE 13/1176, D. Wright to L. Suffield, 25 November 1970). Another document (TNA: FCO 8/2868, Notes on Audience with His Imperial Majesty the Shah of Iran—6 January 1971) detailed negotiations on the Chieftain contract between the shah, the Defence Sales Organisation and Reporter.

64 TNA: FCO 8/82867, I. Lucas to PS/PUS, 26 October 1977.

65 TNA: FCO 2/2868, Record of a telephone conversation between the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary and the Attorney General at 8:00pm on Monday 7 November 1977.

66 Phythian, The Politics, 89, citing The Guardian, 9 November 1977.

67 TNA: DEFE 13/1176, 9 November 1977, Sir Lester Suffield cross-examined by Mr Popplewell:

Q: Did you say that the only person who was going to get something out of it [Reporter's commission] was the Shah?

A: No, I cannot remember saying that, and I would not have had any reason to have said it, either.

Q: And that he would use the money to fund the Pahlevi [sic] Foundation. Do you remember saying anything of that sort?

A: No

68 TNA: DEFE 23/198, M. Palliser to Secretary of State, 13 February 1978.

69 TNA: DEFE 23/217, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 25 January 1978.

70 TNA: DEFE 23/198, M. Palliser to Secretary of State, 13 February 1978.

71 TNA: DEFE 23/217, A. Parsons to FCO, 15 January 1978.

75 TNA: DEFE 13/1176, J. Street to Minister of State, 16 November 1977.

72 TNA: DEFE 24/1690, A. Parsons to FCO, 13 November 1977.

73 TNA: DEFE 23/198, M. Palliser to Secretary of State, 13 February 1978.

74 Regarding the second point, the shah had known and approved of Reporter's arrangement (TNA: DEFE 13/1176, Lord Carrington to His Imperial Majesty, 4 December 1970). With regard to the final point, one diplomat lamented: “It is unfortunate that we cannot say that MOD/MTS have at no time made payments to Iranian subjects. As always there is a skeleton in the cupboard: in 1971 MTS paid a small bribe/commission to a dual national Greek/Iranian for one of the early contracts on the Bandar Abbas Naval base. The person concerned is incidentally a close friend of Mr Hoveyda who spent this year's summer holiday in his villa on the Mediterranean” (TNA: FCO 8/2869, D. Tatham to M. Weir, 16 November 1977).

76 Phythian, The Politics, 103.

77 TNA: DEFE 23/217, Regina v Wellburn and others, Sentences, 19 January 1978.

78 Radji, Parviz, In the Service of the Peacock Throne: The Diaries of the Shah's Last Ambassador to London (London, 1983), 138.Google Scholar

79 TNA: FCO 8/2980, (handwritten comment) C. Miller to A. Sanderson, 24 November 1977.

80 TNA: DEFE 23/198, J. Howe to AUS, 8 February 1978.

81 TNA: DEFE 23/198, M. Palliser to Secretary of State, 13 February 1978.

82 Parsons asked Weir to discourage the BBC from covering the trial in detail (TNA: DEFE 24/1691, A. Parsons to M. Weir, 12 January). When General Hassan Toufanian discovered that The Sun was planning to write a “derogatory article” on Reporter, he threatened to continue his demands for repayment of all commissions (TNA: DEFE 23/198, R. Ellis to PUS, 16 March 1978). Defence Sales then consulted the Security Service as to whether pressure might be applied on the then editor, Larry Lamb, so that he would drop the story (TNA: DEFE 23/198, R. Ellis to J. Ledlie, 4 April 1978).

83 TNA: DEFE 23/198, S. Reporter to R. Ellis, 1 June 1979.

84 TNA: DEFE 23/198, R. Ellis to PUS, 16 March 1978.

85 TNA: FCO 8/3187, S. Reporter to D. Owen, 24 October 1978.

86 TNA: FCO 8/3187, S. Reporter to D. Owen, 24 October 1978.

87 TNA: FCO 8/3187, M. Turner to S. Reporter, 25 October 1978.

88 Lucas, Ivor, A Road To Damascus: Mainly Diplomatic Memoirs from the Middle East (London, 1997), 147.Google Scholar

89 Owen, Time to Declare, 395.

90 TNA: DEFE 24/1691, S. Lecky to J. Street, 11 December 1977.

91 TNA: FCO 8/2998, Record of Meeting between the Minister of State and Labour MPs held in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Wednesday, 23 March 1977 at 4:30pm.

92 TNA: FCO 8/3190, Meeting with Members of the Labour NEC International Committee, Thursday 13 July, 1978.

93 TNA: FCO 8/2998, Record of Meeting between the Minister of State and Labour MPs held in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Wednesday, 23 March 1977 at 4:30pm.

94 TNA: FCO 8/2999, Record of Discussion Between the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary and his Imperial Majesty Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shahanshah Aryamehr at the Niavaran Palace on Saturday, 14 May 1977 at 6pm.

95 TNA: FCO 8/3188, Record of a Meeting between the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and members of the Labour Party National Executive Committee on Iran held in the House of Commons on Thursday 9 November 1978 at 1700hrs.

96 TNA: FCO 3/3186, Parsons to Secretary of State, 6 October 1978.

97 TNA: FCO 8/3187, Parsons to FCO, 19 October 1978.

98 Interview with I. Lucas, 25 February 2010.

99 FCO 8/2992, M. Weir to A. Parsons, 17 June 1977.

100 FCO 8/2992, M. Weir to A. Parsons, 17 June 1977.

103 TNA: FCO, Diplomatic Report No. 157/78, 12 April 1978.

101 TNA: FCO 8/2997, M. Weir to PUS, 2 February 1977.

102 TNA: FCO 8/2507, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 5 March 1975.

104 Parsons, Anthony, The Pride and The Fall: Iran 1974–1979 (London, 1984), 17.Google Scholar

105 Bill, The Eagle, 202, 211.

106 See Phythian, The Politics, 79–84.

107 R. F. Cook, “The Iranian Connection,” New Statesman, 10 December 1976.

108 TNA: FCO 8/3131, B. Major to I. Lucas, 20 February 1978.

109 TNA: FCO 8/3190, I. Lucas to A. Duff, 30 March 1978.

110 TNA: FCO 8/3131, R. White to M Weir, 24 May.

111 TNA: FCO 8/3131, M. Weir to F. Judd, 6 June 1978.

112 TNA: FCO 8/3131, A. Parsons to FCO, 8 March 1978.

113 TNA: FCO 8/3131, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 19 May 1978.

114 TNA: FCO 8/3131, W. Prendergast to F. Judd, 13 June 1978.

115 TNA: FCO 8/3131, D. Owen to Prime Minister, 19 June 1978.

116 TNA: FCO 8/3131, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 19 May 1978.

117 TNA: FCO 8/3131, D. Owen to Tehran, 25 July 1978.

118 TNA: FCO 8/3132, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 16 November 1978. The FCO recommended the blocking of the sale of Shock Sticks, “a small baton, resembling a rolled umbrella, designed to deter or repel assailants without harm or damage” (TNA: FCO 8/3132, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 16 November 1978) and Fox armoured reconnaissance vehicles (TNA: FCO 8/3132, D. Tatham to M. Weir, 17 November 1978).

119 Parsons, The Pride, 39.

120 Owen, Time to Declare, 391.

121 Parsons, The Pride, 38–40.

122 TNA: FCO 8/3190, D. Miers to R. Gorham, 14 December 1978.

123 Keddie, Nikki, Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution (New Haven, CT, 2003), 187.Google Scholar

124 Matine-Daftary's office was bombed in April 1977 by the “Underground Committee for Revenge.” He was also beaten up on 22 February 1977, “ostensibly by SAVAK agents after a meeting at a house in Karaj” (TNA: FCO 8/3190).

125 TNA: FCO 8/3190, D. Miers to R. Gorham, 14 December 1978.

126 TNA: FCO 8/3190, D. Miers to R. Gorham, 14 December 1978.

127 For example, TNA: FCO 8/3190, D. Miers to R. Gorham, 18 December 1978.

128 Parsons, The Pride, 133.

129 TNA: FCO 8/3190, Iran: Policy Review, Meeting Held at 4:00pm on 20 December 1978.

130 TNA: FCO 8/3185, I. Lucas to D. Stephens, 21 September 1978.

131 TNA: FCO 8/3133, J. Leahy to G. Mansell, 19 April 1978.

132 For an account of the religious elements which opposed the shah during the revolution, see Keddie, Modern Iran, 222–39.

133 In fact, the British coroner reported that Shariati died of a heart attack (Abrahamian, Ervand, Iran Between Two Revolutions (Princeton, NJ, 1982), 466.Google Scholar

134 TNA: FCO 8/2999, P. Westmacott to W. Charlesworth, 3 July 1977.

135 TNA: FCO 8/3212, N. Barrington to J. Leahy, 27 January 1978, Review of Persian Service, History of Persian Service, 27 January 1978.

136 TNA: FCO 8/3213, A. Parsons to FCO, 9 April 1978.

137 TNA: FCO 8/3214, A. Parsons to FCO, 3 October 1978.

138 TNA: FCO 8/3212, A. Parsons to D. Owen, 28 January 1978.

139 TNA: FCO 8/3214, J. Leahy to F. Judd, 27 June 1978.

140 TNA: FCO 8/3212, D. Miers to I. Lucas, 11 January 1978.

141 TNA: FCO 8/3212, D. Miers to I. Lucas, 11 January 1978.

142 TNA: FCO 8/3185, A. Parsons to FCO, 24 September 1978.

143 TNA: FCO 8/3215, M. Weir to Private Secretary, 30 November 1978.

144 TNA: FCO 8/3215, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 27 November 1978.

145 TNA: FCO 8/3214, D. Owen to FCO, 26 September 1978.

146 TNA: FCO 8/3215, C. Rundle to Easton (no initial), 27 November 1978.

147 TNA: FCO 8/3214, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 7 July 1978.

148 TNA: FCO 8/3213, J. Leahy to I. Lucas, 10 March 1978.

149 TNA: FCO 8/3213, A. Kark to N. Barrington, 1 March 1978.

150 TNA: FCO 8/3213, I. Lucas to N. Barrington, 8 March 1978.

151 TNA: FCO 8/3232, A. Parsons to I. Lucas. 15 December 1977.

152 TNA: FCO 8/3212, J. Leahy to F. Judd, 23 January 1978.

153 TNA: FCO 26/1942, A. Parsons to FCO, 13 March 1978.

154 TNA: FCO 26/1942, A. Kark to N. Barrington, 28 February 1978.

155 TNA: FCO 8/3185, A. Parsons to FCO, 24 September 1978.

156 TNA: FCO 8/3215, M. Weir to Private Secretary, 20 November 1978.

157 TNA: FCO 8/3214, I. Lucas to M. Weir, 25 October 1978.

158 TNA: FCO 8/3214, M. Weir to J. Leahy, 16 November 1978.

159 Parsons, The Pride, 140.