British Diplomatic Oil Crisis: Contemporary Anglo-Saxon Geopolitical Rivalries in the Persian Gulf: Drawing a Lesson? Or Sir Anthony Eden‘s Delusion of Grandeur.

Summary

This book examines British
foreign Policy towards Iran with special
reference to the nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, 1948-54.
It is not about the internal politics of Iran. The book is concerned with
the British perception of the crisis. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (which
changed its name in December 1954 to the British Petroleum Company Limited),
was one of the world’s major oil companies. It was the most important
British enterprise overseas and the main British interest in the Persian
Gulf. Oil was a vital issue in the British economy and therefore a major
issue in British foreign policy.

In 1951 the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company was nationalised by the Iranian
Government. The book has traced and analysed the response of two British
political parties to what they perceived as a major threat to British
interests in an era of severe economic and industrial difficulties. The
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company’s crisis developed when the Labour Government of
1945-51 was in power. It came to an end when the Conservative Government was
in office in 1954. The book provides a brief historical account of Britain
and Iran’s relationship. Iran’s role in the United Kingdom’s strategic
thinking for the protection of the Indian subcontinent and the discovery of
its huge oil reserves which led to the establishment of the Anglo-Iranian
Oil Company and turned her into a strategic asset for the British Empire
which lasted for more than half of the twentieth century has first been
discussed. An account of the British Government’s involvement in the Iranian
oil is given, followed by the events leading to the nationalisation crisis
of 1951. An analysis of the Labour Government’s policy towards
nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company has been made. Though
Labour had nationalised more industries at home than any previous government
in British history, oil was a vital issue in the British economy and so the
national interest prevailed. Although the use of force against Iran to
retrieve the oil facilities was considered, settling the crisis by
negotiations

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