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

When the
British Charge d’Affaires attempted to persuade Musaddiq to
submit the case to arbitration, the Iranian Prime Minister, on 7th
August, presented a set of conditions. Such as, the repayment by the
company of debts, a reference to the sums the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company had recognised as being due to Iran when it had offered the
Supplemental Agreement, repayment of Iran’s blocked sterling
balances in Britain, and indemnities for the delay in releasing both
these sums. Only when these conditions were met, the Iranian
Government was ready to negotiate with the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company, on the basis of the nine-point nationalisation law.

In
conversation with HM Charge d ‘Affaires on the 14th August, after
Mr. Middleton had made it clear that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
(AIOC) could not accept the Persian Government’s the proposal for
negotiations within the framework of the Nine Point Law and after he
had, as if on his own initiative, suggested informal discussions
without specific terms of reference, Dr. Musaddig put forward the
following propositions:

1. He offered
   arbitration by the International Court.

2. He
   asked the United Kingdom for immediate financial aid.

3. He invited the AIOC
   to discuss the future sale of the bulk
   of Persian oil on commercial terms, eventually including
   free oil on a discount to cover compensation.49

The
American Ambassador, Loy Henderson, was also active. On 27th
August, the British Charge d’Affaires in Teheran, G.H. Middleton,
and the