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

INTRODUCTION

The book is a work on British
diplomatic history. It is concerned with
British foreign policy towards Iran, regarding the nationalisation of the
Anglo- Iranian Oil Company, 1948-54. The book is not about the internal
politics of Iran; it is from the perspective of the British Government.

Such an approach has not been
fully explored before. The nationalisation of
the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, despite its importance, regrettably has been
rather neglected. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was the most important
British enterprise abroad, and the major British interest in the Persian
Gulf. Oil was a vital issue in the British economy. It was a question of
national interest.

As a result of its crucial
strategic position, Iran became important for the
British Empire before the twentieth century, because it was a buffer zone
between Russia and India. By the twentieth century her significance for
Britain grew even further. In 1908 oil was discovered in Iran. Oil was
important to the United Kingdom due to the fact that it was more economical
to run the Royal Navy by oil than by coal. As far as was known there were no
oil deposits in any area of the British Empire or in the United Kingdom. The
finding of oil became, for more than half of the twentieth century, an
important issue in British foreign policy.

In 1909 the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company (later called the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company) was formed. Since 1914 the British Government held 55 per cent of
the shares, and 52 per cent of the voting rights. The Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company became one of the world’s major oil companies.

In 1948 the Iranian Government
complained to the British Government about
the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company’s policy in Iran. The Iranian economy was
under considerable pressure. Royalties were the only conceivable way to
finance a Seven-Year Plan which had been drawn up for 1949-56. Requests were
being made in Iran for a revision of the Iranian share of the Anglo Iranian
Oil Company.

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