IOR/L/PS/12/3537

Correspondence, notes and memoranda, many marked top secret, concerning oil concessions in Persia [Iran] during and immediately after the end of the Second World War, and their use by the Governments of Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America, in maintaining political influence in post-war Iran. The correspondence covers: Royal Dutch Shell’s (Shell) plans to apply for an oil concession in Persia, 1943; correspondence sent by the British Ambassador in Tehran, Reader William Bullard, to the Foreign Office, reporting on his discussions with the Iranian Prime Minister about oil concessions, and the Shell application, 1944; reports of an agreement between the Iranian and Soviet Governments to form a ‘Soviet-Persian Oil Company’, 1946; Foreign Office discussion over the merits of partnering with United States commercial interests in order to counter growing Soviet influence in Iran, 1946; a note marked top secret, entitled ‘Draft Report on South East Persian Oil’, produced at the Foreign Office in May 1946 (ff 22-29); a note entitled ‘Oil in Persia’, produced at the Foreign Office in November 1946 (ff 13-18). The file’s principal correspondents are: the British Ambassador in Tehran; the Foreign Office.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.