Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Foreign Relations Volume on Iran, 1964-1968

During the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, good relations with Iran were a top priority for U.S. policymakers, who agreed on Iran's strategic importance and remained concerned over potential threats to the long-term stability of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi's regime. Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, volume XXII, Iran, released today by the Department of State, documents the administration's policy of support for the Shah and its emphasis on buttressing Iran's internal security by encouraging a far-reaching program of political, social, and economic reform¾the Shah's so-called "White Revolution." Johnson's personal relationship with the Shah was closer than President Kennedy's had been. The two leaders corresponded frequently, and the Shah met with Johnson three times during his presidency.

The only real bone of contention between the two countries was the Shah's seemingly insatiable appetite for more and newer military equipment. His insistence on spending more of Iran's growing oil revenues on weapons conflicted with U.S. policy goals of advocating Iranian economic development and reform as a check against internal upheaval or revolution.

In January 1964 the Shah wrote the President that the 1962 U.S. Five-Year Military Plan for Iran had already proved inadequate. During subsequent discussions of a military modernization program, U.S. officials continued to emphasize the importance of ensuring that such a program would not hamper Iran's economic development, while the Shah insisted that increased oil revenues would make it possible to pay for increased defense expenditures without impairing Iran's economic progress. In July 1964 the U.S. Government agreed to a new Memorandum of Understanding on military modernization.

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